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Hope
This article does a great job of covering some structural problems Republicans face, even in spite of their gerrymandering. Key points:
Rather than a nation of red states and blue states, we are a nation of blue states and ever-larger blue cities in states that are only red for the moment. In fact, of the nation’s 285 cities with populations above 100,000, Obama failed to capture only four—Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth and Salt Lake City.
Today an estimated 84 percent of Americans live in cities, up from an estimated 79 percent only a decade ago. Our nation’s metropolises produce 85 percent of U.S. exports and virtually all new patents, contain the nation’s cultural, educational and healthcare institutions, and are home to 89 percent of working-age people with post-secondary degrees. For the young, born in the city or beyond, for immigrants, for minorities, for the educated, urban areas are where opportunity is and will be found.
Rural America is emptying out. Those who live there, for better or for worse, are the old, the less educated, and the long-term under- and unemployed. Whereas metropolitan areas experienced growth of more than 12 percent over the last decade, the rural population barely grew. This trend will continue, with the rural population suffering even greater attrition as older residents die and younger residents leave to find the education and jobs they need to sustain themselves in a global economy. And that means an ever growing urban, progressive vote that will become unbeatable in statewide and national elections that are decided by popular vote or today’s Electoral College.
Today an estimated 84 percent of Americans live in cities, up from an estimated 79 percent only a decade ago. Our nation’s metropolises produce 85 percent of U.S. exports and virtually all new patents, contain the nation’s cultural, educational and healthcare institutions, and are home to 89 percent of working-age people with post-secondary degrees. For the young, born in the city or beyond, for immigrants, for minorities, for the educated, urban areas are where opportunity is and will be found.
Rural America is emptying out. Those who live there, for better or for worse, are the old, the less educated, and the long-term under- and unemployed. Whereas metropolitan areas experienced growth of more than 12 percent over the last decade, the rural population barely grew. This trend will continue, with the rural population suffering even greater attrition as older residents die and younger residents leave to find the education and jobs they need to sustain themselves in a global economy. And that means an ever growing urban, progressive vote that will become unbeatable in statewide and national elections that are decided by popular vote or today’s Electoral College.
http://inthesetimes.com/article/14901/all_ye_progressives_take_heart/
As painful as it is to watch the stagnation in Washington, it still looks like a bunch of bigoted old folks hanging on the rope at the edge of the dark abyss of history. The only question is, how much damage can they do before their gone?
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