I'm f**cking tired of the Dems being called a bi-coastal party

[WI_DEM]

I heard it again today. Say we only have support in on the two coasts. That the GOP is the party of "mainstream" Americans. What does that make Americans who live in the East and West Coast?

If the media did their jobs they would understand that it is the Democratic party that is gaining strength nationally and not the Republicans--in the last 20 years.

By and large the GOP has become a "southern" party. Take away the south in '00 and Gore won the popular vote not by 550,000 but by over 3 million votes. Take away the south in '04 and Kerry won the popular vote by over 2 million votes.

What about states? From 1960-1988 the following states voted for the GOP candidate for President (8 elections) seven out of eight times:
California
New Jersey
Vermont
New Hampshire

These states went to the GOP candidate 6/8 times:
Oregon
Washington
Maine
Iowa

These states went to the GOP candidate 5/8 times:
Connecticut
Delaware
Wisconsin
Michigan


What does this tell you?
The GOP has moved so far right that the "liberal/moderate" wing of the party has either turned Democratic or independent. Upper New England, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Oregon and Washington used to be fairly solidly Republican in presidential elections--that is not the case anymore.

Even in "middle america" the GOP has lost ground. Illinois ("The Land of Lincoln") used to be the most Republican big state in the country except for Ohio. Today it is one of the most Democratic. Iowa and Wisconsin have trended to the democrats.

And what of New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona? Give them a few years and they too will be "toss ups" where once they were solidly Republican.

So why is it that the Democratic party gets the bum rap--when it is clearly the GOP which is fast becoming a sectional party?

[prof_science]

1. Hell yeah!

KICK from fellow Wisconsin democrat!

[BamaLefty]

2. Damn Good Post!

:kick:

[ClintCooper2003]

3. Damn straight. New England and the Midwest rock.

[RevCheesehead]

4. Thanks for pointing out what others fail to see.

From a fellow cheesehead to another: We are progressive, independent thinkers! (You can't judge WI based on Tommy Thompson!)

[Carolab]

5. Minnesota is a Dem stronghold

smack dab in the "heartland"

And what about OHIO?

Hey, since we "own" the coasts, does that include FLORIDA?

[RoyGBiv]

6. I agree, but ...

When you get involved in one of the DU discussions that starts focusing on the ignorance of "mainstream" America, how the South sucks, rural people are all dumb rednecks, etc., you start to understand the basis of the sentiment.

In short, we bring on this perception ourselves, or at least we untentionally allow it to take root. Republicans jump at some of our own smarmy statements and succeed in leaving the impression we're all a bunch of elitist snobs who don't really care about the concerns of the common individual. Is that fair? No, obviously not, but we, as a party, do precious little to fight the image. We run to the right to try to get elected rather than take a stand for the people. This is not true of all Democrats, of course, but it is definitely true of much of the leadership and some of its more outspoken so-called activists.

I'm reminded of a scene in the movie _Dazed and Confused_ in which the idealist wanna-ba ACLU lawyer is talking about standing in line at the DMV. He had come to this realization that he didn't really like the people he had been talking about wanting to help.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I wanna DANCE!"

The message is subtle, but pertinent. The Democratic message, if we fostered it as well as we could, should have a broad appeal. Despite the fact many people identify with that message, they don't really believe we mean what we say, that we don't really like the people we claim we want to help and that we'd rather be off dancing than actually doing what we claim we want to do.

[Withywindle]

7. Thank you...

from the North Coast! (Great Lakes)

What I always wonder is, do Republicans in California or Massachusetts get as sick of this regional shorthand as my Democrat family and friends in Virginia do? (I would think not, because they run everything, but that's never stopped them from feeling persecuted before.)

[TexasLawyer]

8. Texans too!

Notice how many progressive Texans are on DU? We're all over the place down here!

[AJH032]

9. Two Points

First, the west coast and northern east coast are not the only democratic regions in the country. Several midwestern states (Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, even Iowa) are not Republican states at all. Those states do not lie on either coast. They're right in the middle of the country.

Also, you're correct in everything you say but don't forget, the south used to be a lot more democratic than it is today. Remember in the 1976 eleciton when Carter won, he won much of the South, but lost some Democratic strongholds of today (like California).

[European Socialist]

10. blue states

I was watching C-span this morning, and they were talking about the future of the dem. party. The panel seemed to think we needed a heartland candidate. If it weren't for the fraud they would be talking about why the repukes can't win the Blue States.

[meganmonkey]

12. Good point! Imagine what the topics will be once EVERYBODY KNOWS

that the repukes actually LOST!!!

[meganmonkey]

11. I'm with ya, honey!

From OP: "Say we only have support in on the two coasts. That the GOP is the party of "mainstream" Americans. What does that make Americans who live in the East and West Coast?"

Not only that, what does that make the Democrats between the coasts? As a Michigan Democrat, I am lucky to say I live in a blue state. But what about the 49% (we all know it's more than 50%, though, really) of Ohio that is Democrat? Or the 30-49% in other 'red' states of middle america who are dems?

[Her Blondness]

13. This is a cool 3D map showing red and blue counties