Last edited Fri Nov 10, 2017, 10:57 AM - Edit history (1)
is what you think it is. You have to consider the rural/urban divide and the demographics that brings with it. The more important truth is that the Republican party draws the vast majority of its support from a portion of a single sector of the population. That is ultimately unsustainable. That portion of the population is shrinking. Their share of that portion is also shrinking. There is also a decidedly geographic distribution to their support. Look at the map of the Virginia election results and the numbers they represent. The plurality achieved in one urban county overcomes the vote margins in over a dozen rural counties combined. That's not merely a reflection of the demographics you cite. If you take those statistics and parse them geographically, I believe you will find a much different story. The pluralities in the more urbanized portions of the state were not achieved without a significant proportion-or even a majority of the white voters. The real truth is that the more urban/suburban/diverse the area, the smaller the percentage of white voters you'll find voting republican. This is a better demonstration of the ultimate lack of sustainability for the republican choice to pursue a narrowly defined sector of the electorate.
The Northam victory is a reflection of the Democrats ability to attract a wider spectrum of the electorate-across the board, best reflected in diverse urban areas. The impact of education, economic status and of living in diverse communities on voter behavior gets lost in any analysis that doesn't account for this. Trying to understand the population as monolithic groups-judging the whole by only the representative portion you observe-will ultimately lead you to incorrect results. There will always be a diversity of political opinion in this country. That's not a bad thing. What is bad is that it has been the republicans' choice (perhaps out of desperation) to deeply divide the country to solidify their base and achieve power. That's not the Democratic way of doing things.
Interestingly, I came across this related article this morning. I think its worth reading for a better understanding, not just of where we are, but where we need to go.
I’m a Coastal Elite From the Midwest: The Real Bubble is Rural America
I’m from the rural Midwest. I now live in Washington, D.C. All of this talk about coastal elites needing to understand more of America has it backward.
My home county in Ohio is 97 percent white. It, like a lot of other very unrepresentative counties, went heavily for Donald Trump.
My high school had about 950 students. Two were Asian. One was Hispanic. Zero were Muslim. All the teachers were white.
My high school had more convicted sexual predator teachers than minority teachers. That’s a rural American story.
In many of these areas, the only Muslims you see are in movies like “American Sniper.” (I knew zero Muslims before going to college in another state.) You never see gay couples or even interracial ones. Much of rural and exurban American is a time capsule to America’s past.
Read the rest here:
https://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/im-a-coastal-elite-from-the-midwest-the-real-bubble-is-rural-america
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