The Future of the Democrats
Posted by Moonage on 03 Nov 2004 | Tagged as: Opinions
Over the last 20 years the US has become more conservative. This is a natural progression caused by two factors:
1. The US population is aging. As people age, MOST become more conservative. Being as MOST decide almost every election, that’s an issue in every election.
2. The conservative movement is part of a social trend that has wavered back and forth for several centuries. It is the “rebellion” against the extravagances of the “Me” generation of the 60’s, 70’s, and early 80’s. It’s not something neocons created. It is however, something the Republican Party responded to and accepted. The Democrats failed to do that. I think Kerry going down will probably start pushing the Democrat party more to conservative sensitive issues. Obama is very conservative as best I can tell, he’ll be a lightening rod for the Democrats as Reagan was for the Republicans.
Now, the problem with part 2 is that social trends waver, if the Democrats wait too long to address this conservative movement, they will lose this generation of voters. Plus, they may move towards conservative issues just as the next generation is “rebelling” by becoming more liberal.
Now, how that fits into the original theme is that urban areas always tend to be more liberal than conservative areas. It’s not necessarily a coastal phenomenon as it is an urban/rural thing. The coasts are simply just more urban. That part’s not going to change any time soon. IMO, the Republicans have staked their future on what could be a temporary social trend. Once all the baby boomers are gone, the country will swing back to more liberal social values. That could leave the Republicans where the Democrats are now. Of course, that won’t occur for about 40 years. The solution for the Democrats now IMO is not to ape the Republicans or try harder only in urban areas, it’s to establish themselves as the moderates to combat the Republican ultra-conservative label.
That’s why I felt Kerry was the worst possible candidate for this election.
3 Comments »
on 03 Nov 2004 at 4:53 pm 1.--H
said …
Question of the day:
What will happen to “moveon.org” now that Bush got re-elected?
Will they “move on” or …..?
on 03 Nov 2004 at 5:38 pm 2.Moonage
said …
I have a sneaky feeling the 527 exemption will cease to exist in very short order. I personally am already lobbying to that effect.
At that point, Moveon will not be able to move on, they’ll cease to exist entirely. As they should. That type of politicking is not needed.
on 09 Dec 2007 at 8:17 pm 3.Moonage Political Webdream » Blog Archive » Michael Moore and the Karpman Triangle said …
[...] dead on, MichaelR. This is exactly what I’ve been harping about for a year. There are very concrete events occurring that are dictating voting trends, and always will be. [...]