Microblog Memes

This is basically how I see the democratic party. The "real base" is college educated people who care about things being good, but are intelligent enough to see beyond first order effects. These are the sorts of people who read think pieces in The Atlantic, and who also have a subscription to The Economist because they feel it is important to see many sides of the political spectrum. Unfortunately, these people make up a rather small minority of the voting population.

The remainder of the Democratic party's voters are made up of diverse interest groups which are voting for their own narrow self interest - various racial minorities, sexual minorities, women, union members, etc.

The challenge of the Democratic party is convincing an ornery old black man who regularly uses homophobic slurs to complain about his nephew and a 33 year old white woman who jogs during her lunch break when working to save the dolphins that they are on the same side.

Meanwhile, the "real base" of the Republican party is made up of a not very diverse group of "real Americans" who are also voting (as they see it) for their own self interest. But there's not really nobel intellectual class in the Republican party - there are the elites, who cynically use the plebs to enact their chosen policies, and there are the plebs who cheer for their elites even when they are told exactly how they are getting screwed.

Democrats have fretted for years about how they could gain the success the Republicans have at getting their message out and mobilizing their base, and the reality is that they just can't. Democrats are, quite simply, not dumb enough to fall for that bullshit.