The American people are idiots

[A Black Falcon]

Oh, you're in Kentucky now? Huh. Last I remember you were in Virginia. But yeah, you are right that many Democrats ran as Republican-lite. It didn't help of course, because the Democrats lost most of the competitive Senate and Governor's races this year. But would being more liberal have helped either? I mean, one major problem is that younger voters don't vote, but the other major problem is that older and white voters are becoming more and more Republican. The Republicans' hold on the South is now just about complete, there are few significant Democrats in that large part of the country now. It's amazing and incredibly sad how important anti-black and hispanic sentiments (and now also anti-gay sentiments as well!) have been in that move; of course, the Democrats lost the South when they took up civil rights in the '60s. It's taken a while for the Republicans to totally take over the region, but with this election, they seem to have done it, for now at least. And racism is a big part of why. It is. The virulent hate so many on the right have towards Obama is another example of this. If Hilary Clinton (or another Democrat) wins the next Presidential election but Republicans hold at least the house, as is perhaps likely, just not having a black President might help the Dems in the south, sadly enough...

I just wonder, will southern white people ever realize that they keep electing leaders who act directly against their own economic and health interests? Somehow the Democratic name in the south is so bad that a lot of people won't vote for them no matter what they think of Democratic policies, or something -- we saw in this election this year several minimum wage bills pass in states that voted in hugely Republican-majority governments, for example. That kind of disconnect between policy and elected officials is crazy.

Of course, racism is only one of many issues that have helped build Republican strength. Nationwide, the Republican party has been moving right for the past few decades, after all. The right hated Clinton, and then Obama took on some old Republican ideas and they hate them not not just because of his party or race, but also because their party has gone crazy-right, probably as a reaction to the Bush years. I just hope that eventually the Republican party decides to start attempting to govern the country again, instead of just destroying as much of the government as they can. Hopefully that happens before they get control of the whole government... it's just fortunate that the Democrats have the edge in Presidential elections, we'd be in big trouble as a nation otherwise, with their edges in statehouses, the Supreme Court, and the US House, and the divided nature of the Senate (the Dems may take back the Senate in 2016, but it will be difficult for Democrats to hold long-term because of how many states now are so Republican-dominated...). At this point though, that doesn't seem likely to happen, not with so many horrendously destructive right-wing governors just re-elected!

And this is why the American people, younger ones particularly, are being very stupid for not voting. Vote like it was an election year this year, and some of those guys lose. The core Republican base is aging, after all. Younger voters in the South may vote Republican too, but the next generations are not, so far at least, as crazy as the ones currently in control.