...that was in reference to Hillary's Iraq Vote.
But let's stop with the revisionist history all around.
The Democrats were dead in the water nationally in the 1970s and 80s. The FDR coalition had collapsed coming out of the 1960s, with many abandoning the party for the GOP. It wasn't because the Democrats strayed away from the New Deal and its policies, as I doubt any DUer would say the Democratic Party of the 70s and 80s was more conservative than it is today. Rather, the Democratic Party's inclusion of women and blacks drove away many white working class voters who bought into the idea of welfare queens and racial strife.
This is not the 1930s Democratic Party. This is not the 1930s Republican Party. Believe it or not, many blacks were Republicans in this era and the Republican Party was not nearly as hostile toward their interests as the current party. That altered the dynamics a great deal.
Why? Because as the Democrats shifted in the 60s, becoming a more inclusive party, it drove out the white working class voters who were the backbone of the party in the 1930s and 40s.
In 1964, LBJ won the white vote 59-41. In 1976, twelve-years later, Ford won the white vote 52-46 over Carter, despite losing the election.
In 1980, Carter lost the white vote 56-36 to Reagan. Mondale lost it 66-34. Dukakis 59-41.
Those elections weren't close.
It wasn't because the Democrats were too conservative. It was that the coalition that built the New Deal moved to the Republicans. FDR didn't win on the backs of black voters in the 1930s. For starters, many weren't allowed to vote and the vote breakdown of those who did vote wasn't nearly as lopsided as it is today.
Not to discredit the fact FDR did bring many black voters into the party, but a bulk of his support came from Southern Democrats, many who left the party in the 1950s and 60s to either become Dixiecrats or Republicans.
But that coalition of the 1930s and 40s, vanished after the Civil Rights Era when the Democratic Party became the party of civil rights and the Republicans, who, up until the late 60s, had a strong record in this regard, fought more and more for states rights.
It's not a coincidence white voters left the Democratic Party after the '64 election. It had nothing to do with LBJ being conservative, especially since his Great Society was an extension of FDR's New Deal - and it's the same with Humphrey, who was as liberal domestically as LBJ and less hawkish on foreign policy. Humphrey, too, lost the white vote. Just four years after LBJ won it handily.
FDR's Democratic Party was dying in the 1980s. It had lost the Senate, had been blown out of presidential elections three straight cycles, and it could not survive with the base it had anymore. Make no mistake - the Democratic Party of the 70s and 80s was a shell of the FDR Democratic Party.
What helped save it, and I know a lot of people don't want to hear this on DU, was Clinton. He became the first viable Democratic candidate since Carter, and Carter was a conservative for his era. I showed you how badly Democrats did with the white vote in 1988 - in 1992, Clinton lost it - but barely. He only lost it 39-41. He actually won the white vote in 1996 - the first Democrat to do so since LBJ in '64. That's a long stretch.
What Clinton provided was a chance to win the White House during a period of transition. The Democratic Party of today isn't going to win the white vote. Gore lost it in 2000 (55-43), Kerry lost it in 2004 (56-44), Obama lost it in 2008 (55-45) and 2012 (56-44) - it's going to win it by the diverse coalition built out of the 60s onward - namely blacks, Hispanics and Asians.
But Clinton helped bridge the gap between the old Democratic Party that was failing and the new one. I do believe you can tailor that message to the new base, a much more diverse base than what FDR had in the 30s. BUT it's not fair to say Clinton didn't help get us to the point where the party was viable in national elections again. In 1992, Clinton wouldn't have won losing the white vote 56-44. That's almost as bad as Dukakis did in '88 and he lost in a landslide.
In 1992, whites were not liberal and were not embracing big government New Deal politics. Clinton won 'em over by appealing to their moderate streak and it worked. He won the White House. Twice.
That's not to say it would work now. It doesn't need to work now. And you know what? Hillary is running a campaign far to the left of Bill in '92. Why? Because the party has evolved and now can win without the FDR coalition.
It's going to win with the Obama Coalition.
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