Now that it is becoming clear which Democrats are interested in becoming the Party’s nominee for the presidency (the list now includes Sharpton, Moseley-Braun, Kucinich) it is time reconsider larger matters of what the Democratic Party stands for, of how they see themselves and, equally important, how they see the GOP. The best way to get a handle on this is by reading Noemie Emery’s article of a few weeks ago in The Weekly Standard. It is entitled "Greed, Oppression, Patriarchy: What Unites the Democrats? A cartoonish view of Republicans." Emery uses the Demos reaction to the Trent Lott affair to show the ridiculous view they have of the GOP and how that view has settled into their party, and how disadvantageous that view is to their well being. They are running on fear. This is an excellent article.
Thanks Peter, for this scoop on the Demos. It was one of the best I’ve read in a while.
One exception I take with Ms. Emery, is when she launches into: "THE DEPICTION of the Republicans as Closet Confederates is based on some dubious claims: That nothing has changed since 1964 in the Republican party;"
Almost everybody makes this same mistake about the GOP! First, it was Ike that sent the troops to Little Rock, and without a majority of the GOP, LBJ would’ve never got his Civil Rights bill passed in 1964. The GOP, back then, was a predominately northern party. It was the Democrats who ruled in the south. FDR and Truman brought these folks back into the Union (while virtually ignoring the race issue). And it was bound to crumble soon or later as the natuion moved forward.
Hence, the real split was the Democrats living the south (with the leftover northern FDR coalition) in 1972, as she so well points out. The GOP, Nixon’s sourthern strategy notwithstanding, lucked out on the new New Deal and just picked up the votes off the floor! :)
I butchered that last comment badly, so here’s my revision:
Hence, the real split of FDR’s coalition came when the Democrats opted to leave the "racist" south, and hedge their power base with the leftover northern FDR coalition and the New Left in 1972, as Ms. Emery points out. The GOP, Nixon’s sourthern strategy notwithstanding, lucked out on this new New Deal and just started picking the votes up off the floor ala Reagan!