• The Democratic Party is nearing a complete end in the Southern US; only two Dems left in Congress fr
    132 replies, posted
[quote]New Orleans (CNN) -- The 2014 elections seemed like the final reckoning for Southern Democrats, the culmination of a political metamorphosis that began in the Civil Rights era and concluded under the nation's first black President. Wiped out in governors' races, clobbered in Senate contests, irrelevant in many House districts and boxed out of state legislatures, Democrats in the South today look like a rump party consigned to a lifetime of indignity. "I can't remember it being any gloomier for Democrats in the South than it is today," said Curtis Wilkie, the longtime journalist and observer of Southern life who lectures at the University of Mississippi. "The party has been demonized by Republicans. It's very bleak. I just don't see anything good for them on the horizon." Democrats are looking everywhere for solutions to their Southern problem. They hope population changes will make states such as Georgia and North Carolina more hospitable. They want more financial help from the national party. Some are even clinging to the dim hope that Hillary Clinton might help make inroads with white working class voters in Arkansas in 2016. Success here is crucial for the party. There's virtually no way for Democrats to win back a majority in the Senate -- much less the House -- without finding a way to compete more effectively in the South. But the truth is there are no easy answers for a party so deep in the hole. White voters have abandoned Democrats for decades, and the flight has only hastened under President Barack Obama. The migration has created a troublesome math problem: Democrats across the region now depend on African-American voters and not much else. It's a disastrous formula in low-turnout midterms dominated by white voters. In Louisiana on Saturday, deep south Democrats bid farewell to their last remaining Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu, who won the African-American vote but failed to secure enough white support in her race against Republican Bill Cassidy. Landrieu won just 18 percent of white voters on Election Day in November, and she failed to expand that margin in the runoff, resulting in another knife-twisting loss for Democrats hoping to put the devastating 2014 midterms behind them. With Landrieu's loss, there are now just two Democrats senators hailing from the Old Confederacy: Mark Warner in Virginia and Bill Nelson in Florida. But both of those states have diverse populations and thriving economies that have pushed them away, culturally and politically, from their southern neighbors.[/quote] [url]http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/politics/southern-democrats/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
Oh God, they've finally hunted them to extinction.
[QUOTE=mugofdoom;46662386]Oh God, they've finally hunted them to extinction.[/QUOTE] Gotta get the last two together and hope they mate
[quote]White voters have abandoned Democrats for decades, and the flight has only hastened under President Barack Obama. The migration has created a troublesome math problem: Democrats across the region now depend on African-American voters and not much else.[/quote] Totally not racists.
[QUOTE=Explosions;46662421]Totally not racists.[/QUOTE] Completely 100% could never be about the Democrat's policies. NOOOO, it HAS to be a race issue!!!!
[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;46662467]Completely 100% could never be about the Democrat's policies. NOOOO, it HAS to be a race issue!!!![/QUOTE] It's both. It's also partly gerrymandering. Let's not kid ourselves here, this is a multi-faceted situation and there are many contributing factors.
Maybe because the democrats aren't running as progressives but as conservatives? I mean we have these embarrassing campaign ads with them thumping the bible so hard you'd think they were about to have an aneurism.
South is getting smaller though. Maryland/Virginia are hardly Southern anymore. Us in the DMV consider ourselves Mid-Atlantic.
[QUOTE='[Seed Eater];46662495']It's both. It's also partly gerrymandering. Let's not kid ourselves here, this is a multi-faceted situation and there are many contributing factors.[/QUOTE] Agreed, but writing it off entirely or even majorly as a race issue is disingenuous at best.
Anyone who looks at this and thinks it is representative of only one or two social/political issues is wrong and moronic. Gerrymandering, race, immigration, disagreement with Democrats, a history of slavery, disagreement with the Union in general, the Tea party, age disparities in Florida, the list goes on and on.
I'm ready for 2024, when the Republican president has pissed off every single person in the entire world, including non-humans, causing voter turnout for Democratic candidates in all positions to overwhelm the entire system.
[QUOTE=proboardslol;46662507]South is getting smaller though. Maryland/Virginia are hardly Southern anymore. Us in the DMV consider ourselves Mid-Atlantic.[/QUOTE] Maryland has been blue for decades, but this is because Maryland is [URL="http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m542/swolf318/Political%20Geography/Maryland/MarylandCongressionalMap2012_zps9d9ba809.png"]gerrymandered to shit. [/URL] 1 and 6 are red districts, while the rest are blue. Gerrymandering pisses me off to no end.
[QUOTE=spiritlol;46662795]Maryland has been blue for decades, but this is because Maryland is [URL="http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m542/swolf318/Political%20Geography/Maryland/MarylandCongressionalMap2012_zps9d9ba809.png"]gerrymandered to shit. [/URL] 1 and 6 are red districts, while the rest are blue. Gerrymandering pisses me off to no end.[/QUOTE] Gerrymandering is the clear #1 issue with America's current political climate and system. [citation needed, I cant find my source] It's been said California would be a red state, Texas would be purple, and the north-east would be nothing but swing states if the districts weren't essentially cut out to guarantee one way of voting or the other.
[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;46662826]Gerrymandering is the clear #1 issue with America's current political climate and system. [citation needed, I cant find my source] It's been said California would be a red state, Texas would be purple, and the north-east would be nothing but swing states if the districts weren't essentially cut out to guarantee one way of voting or the other.[/QUOTE] Louisiana IS gerrymandered, but it's gerrymandered to GUARANTEE that african-americans are guaranteed representation, whereas normally they would just get lost in the voter populace. Gerrymandering isn't always bad....
A big part of the 2014 Democrat losses is fracturing party identity. A lot of them ran as "Republican Lite", abandoning traditionally Democratic/progressive policies such as healthcare and minimum wage in order to capture right-wing voters. The four states that passed higher minimum wage referendums elected Republican governors while Kentucky, traditionally a red state, elected a Democrat as Governor who campaigned on the successful rollout of Obamacare.
[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;46662853]Louisiana IS gerrymandered, but it's gerrymandered to GUARANTEE that african-americans are guaranteed representation, whereas normally they would just get lost in the voter populace. Gerrymandering isn't always bad....[/QUOTE] But it usually is. It's a lot like lobbying. Sometimes something good comes out of it that can be celebrated as a victory, most of the time it's abused to hell and back and ultimately does more harm than good.
Oh yeah, and voter ID laws that are, coincidentally, pushed by Republicans and, also coincidentally, target almost exclusively Democratic voters.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;46662876]A big part of the 2014 Democrat losses is fracturing party identity. A lot of them ran as "Republican Lite", abandoning traditionally Democratic/progressive policies such as healthcare and minimum wage in order to capture right-wing voters. The four states that passed higher minimum wage referendums elected Republican governors while Kentucky, traditionally a red state, elected a Democrat as Governor who campaigned on the successful rollout of Obamacare.[/QUOTE] A big part of 2014 Democrat losses was also the progressive agenda they have been pushing over the past few years.
Maybe the southern states will secede and form the Theocratic Republic of Dumbfuckistan. That'd be awesome.
[QUOTE=Explosions;46662421]Totally not racists.[/QUOTE] Maybe if you Americans would stop pulling a race card out of your ass every time any issue arises you could actually stop fixing issues instead of basically shooting yourself in the foot and blaming the gaping wound.
[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;46662942]A big part of 2014 Democrat losses was also the progressive agenda they have been pushing over the past few years.[/QUOTE] Except for the part where progressive policies won across the nation? Do you even follow politics?
[QUOTE=proboardslol;46662507]South is getting smaller though. Maryland/Virginia are hardly Southern anymore. Us in the DMV consider ourselves Mid-Atlantic.[/QUOTE] Maryland was never Southern because those traitors never seceded. Same with Missouri and West Virginia. Especially West Virginia
[QUOTE=Raidyr;46662976]Except for the part where progressive policies won across the nation? Do you even follow politics?[/QUOTE] Yeah, because people sweepingly voted in democrats and progressive policies last month...... Are you really THAT blind, or do you just refuse reality......
[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;46662993]Yeah, because people sweepingly voted in democrats and progressive policies last month...... Are you really THAT blind, or do you just refuse reality......[/QUOTE] But they did??? Recreational marijuana, medicinal marijuana, and minimum wage all passed in several states? And in states where they didn't reach the passing point they still got a majority (medicinal marijuana in Florida). They didn't elect democrats which is my point; democrats refused to run on a lot of these issues so they weren't elected. [editline]7th December 2014[/editline] Nearly every Democrat that ran away from the ACA lost. Meanwhile the one Democrat who didn't, in a traditionally red state, won re-election. thoughts?
[QUOTE=Raidyr;46662998]But they did??? Medical marijuana, medicinal marijuana, and minimum wage all passed in several states? And in states where they didn't reach the passing point they still got a majority (medicinal marijuana in Florida). They didn't elect democrats which is my point; democrats refused to run on a lot of these issues so they weren't elected. [editline]7th December 2014[/editline] Nearly every Democrat that ran away from the ACA lost. Meanwhile the one Democrat who didn't, in a traditionally red state, won re-election. thoughts?[/QUOTE] Right, because Landrieu would have won if she had just stuck close to her vote on the ACA which louisianians hate.... I like how you're basing your opinion on one single case of a democrat telling the truth and winning, even though everything else proves that people don't like how these democrats have been voting...
[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;46662993]Yeah, because people sweepingly voted in democrats and progressive policies last month...... Are you really THAT blind, or do you just refuse reality......[/QUOTE] Excuse you, but Democrats won both of the last two presidential elections on policies of health care reform, minimum wage, and improved civil rights for queer Americans. The Republicans have won two midterms promising repeal of the ACA, major tax cuts on businesses, and the preservation of "traditional families." Which side actually delivered?
[QUOTE=Crazy Ivan;46662826]Texas would be purple.[/QUOTE] Purple?
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;46663125]Purple?[/QUOTE] An even division of red and blue.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;46663125]Purple?[/QUOTE] 1/2 Red, 1/2 Blue Didn't you play with paint as a kid?
[QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;46663067]. I like how you're basing your opinion on one single case of [/QUOTE] [B]No[/B]. I listed [I]several [/I]cases across [I]multiple [/I]posts. Read what I'm typing. And stop using ellipses as punctuation.
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