Poor, Stupid, White Voters
Evidently oblivious (along with her mainstream media cheering section) to the fact that most white men wouldn't vote for her in the general election, for the past several months Hillary has been claiming the mantle of "Great White Hope." Her message to those Democrats who don't happen to be poor, uneducated, and white is that without pandering to that group the Democratic party cannot win the White House. A lot of people who are well-off, educated, white and — despite all that — very, very stupid have bought into this insidious political paradigm. Looking backwards it may have its tiny grain of truth; looking forward it has none. It would, indeed, be the recipe for crushing Democratic defeats.
The key to a 2008 Democratic victory is turnout. And as it turns out, two groups are critical: black voters and young voters. Obama has proven again and again his appeal to these groups and they are turning out for him in record numbers. There should be no doubt that Clinton, if she managed to steal the nomination, could not bring them out the same way, not enough to offset the anti-Hillary white male vote. (Myself, I would rather vote for Bob Barr or Ralph Nader than Hillary.)
On the youth vote, in particular, the mainstream establishment hasn't yet caught up with the times. "Youth," to the pundits, means generation "X". Well, generation "X" was pretty conservative, mostly apolitical or apathetic, almost worthless in terms of votes. Politicians learned to ignore them. The Millenials, today's youth, have a very different outlook. They're active participants in the process and they seem aware of the fact that their future is forfeit for today's policy mistakes. That there's no room for error. Seeing's how they're almost twice as numerous as the baby boomers, and since party identification in the first couple elections a person votes in is a good indicator of how they'll vote the rest of their lives, it behooves the Democratic party to wrap its arms around the Millenials. If the Democrats don't others will… the repercussions either way will last decades.
Two recent articles, one on the electoral map and turnout, the other on young voters, are definitely worth reading.
[3/21 I got the numbers wrong: there are about 80 million millennials and about 75 million boomers.]
Posted by George Kenney on May 13, 2008 9:58 AM 
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Comments
What really wigs me out are the Hillary supporters who claim they would vote for McCain if she doesn't get the nomination. While I can understand that if you're an out and out racist, what rational person would do that?
I may well vote for Nader or any splinter party socialist that turns up on my ballot if Hillary steals the nomination, but no way would I ever vote for McCain. We are enough of a pariah police state now. Another 4 years and we won't be able to have this conversation.
Posted by: Democracy Lover
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May 13, 2008 12:25 PM
I always wondered if they really did have classic pinups walking around in conservative Christian L'il Abner land. :-)
I also wonder that, as a 'progressive', I keep wanting to help people who don't like my type much. And I don't even drink that much wine or eat that much cheese.
Posted by: benjamin777
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May 14, 2008 12:10 PM