- Joined
- Apr 28, 2015
- Messages
- 85,665
- Reaction score
- 72,362
- Location
- Third Coast
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
Yeah, agreed.Most of those "core ideals" were ideals to help the working/middle class; like education assistance, mortgage help, unions, progressive tax rates, etc., but then they started to forget most of what they stood for = the working man's party, and began to focus on minorities and class politics. I used to be a Democrat, voted for Carter. As some others say; I didn't leave the Dems, they left me.
The Dems left me too, though Trump & the GOP just recently drove me back.
Those earlier Dem values, are what grew their tent into the majority party it became. Minorities and the economically underprivileged or economically moderate were drawn to the party naturally, through shared values. The values were the draw, not necessarily the demographics. The diverse demographics occurred due to the party having widely accepted universal values.
But that seemed to change, over the years. The values, at least in perception, receded from the foreground and were replaced with an embracement of identity and culture. Identity and culture, rather than values, became the primary identifier. And I believe that is where it started unraveling.
But the party is not lost. If anything, Trump is assisting in keeping it alive, as can be seen by my recent re-integration. But they must more rigorously define their mission, their ethos, and communicate it to the general public. Trump and the GOP are tripping all over themselves. It's high-time to take advantage of it.