Culture now matters more than money
Since starting this endeavor, I have claimed one truth. Conservatives and the Republican Party no longer care about the economy or wealth, because they think culture is more important. This truth provides the path for Democratic Victory.
Harold Meyerson notes that Democratic support among the white working class has collapsed.
Ruy Teixeira argues that, based on the exit polls from 2004, Kerry lost among white southern moderates by 15 points, while Clinton won them by 2 points in 1996. The problem with this analysis is that the exit poll data used to support this conclusion is largely false, because the exit polls were revised to match the "official result" that was manipulated by electronic voting machines. However, until we know the actual result, we must assume that this data is correct because it is all we have.
The reason Clinton won in 1996 is because he made a single, very persuasive argument: It's the Economy, Stupid. What he meant was the following: "The Republicans are a bunch of fanatical moralists who want to tell you how to live your life, without providing you with the economic ability to live your life. I, on the other hand, will not tell you how to live your life, but I will provide you with the economic ability to live your life." This was a very credible argument because the Republican party had painted itself into a corner in 1992, 1994, and 1996, claiming that the real problem in the U.S. was the falling moral standards. In 1992 Bush lost because the economy was bad and because Patrick Buchanan had convinced a majority of voters that all the Republican Party cared about was saving your soul, not helping your pocketbook. Clinton was a safe bet because he agreed with most conservative cultural issues - he was pro-death penalty, anti-gun control, pro-balanced budget - but he didn't preach about cultural issues. When he had an affair with an intern, he could credibly claim that what really mattered to the country was not the morality of the country, but how financially prosperous everyone was. With the Internet Economy booming, this was a reasonable claim.
8 years later, the environment is different. The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, provided ammunition for the Republicans to say, "See, we were right all along about the moral condition of the country, and this is what happened. Clinton did nothing to prevent this from happening because he only cared about money. Well, money doesn't protect people's lives, but moral standards do protect lives." Thus, the conclusion many people were forced to make after that day was this: "Maybe I don't have to become a high-powered CEO. Maybe my mission in life is to be a good Dad/Mom/Wife/Friend/Lover. " Since the areas of attack were the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the implicit message was that "wealth is dangerous". Consequently, many people started to believe that not only was it more important to have moral standards than to be rich, they also started to believe that wealth creates lax morals. Thus, the richer a person is, the more sacrilegious he is. This belief was reinforced on television and movies, where reality TV shows, MTV, and other elements of pop culture were showing people doing the most insane things for money.
As a result of this changed environment, the Republican Party now argues, "Moral standards are the only way to protect our way of life from terrorists", and many people agree with them. In contrast, the Democratic Party now says, "Morality isn't as important as wealth", which causes many white, working class people to think that the Democratic Party never learned the lesson from the terrorist attacks. Hence, the message voters send to the Democrats is, "we care more about morality and our way of life than we care about getting rich, because if we are rich we ignore our loved ones, and we ignore God and community."
Thus, the problem with the Democrats is the problem that every party or army faces after defeat. They think they can win the way they fought the last war or battle. They don't realize that the environment has changed, and that a new message is needed.
The United States now cares very little about economic prosperity. Instead, it cares much more about having a community. Republicans provide that community through church, talk radio, and cable television. The Democrats have not yet learned how to provide a community because the only thing they know how to do is criticize the bad content in church, talk radio, and cable television. Thus, Republicans provide a function, and Democrats focus on the form instead of the function. What Democrats need to do is find ways to provide the same function, but in a better form.
Harold Meyerson notes that Democratic support among the white working class has collapsed.
Ruy Teixeira argues that, based on the exit polls from 2004, Kerry lost among white southern moderates by 15 points, while Clinton won them by 2 points in 1996. The problem with this analysis is that the exit poll data used to support this conclusion is largely false, because the exit polls were revised to match the "official result" that was manipulated by electronic voting machines. However, until we know the actual result, we must assume that this data is correct because it is all we have.
The reason Clinton won in 1996 is because he made a single, very persuasive argument: It's the Economy, Stupid. What he meant was the following: "The Republicans are a bunch of fanatical moralists who want to tell you how to live your life, without providing you with the economic ability to live your life. I, on the other hand, will not tell you how to live your life, but I will provide you with the economic ability to live your life." This was a very credible argument because the Republican party had painted itself into a corner in 1992, 1994, and 1996, claiming that the real problem in the U.S. was the falling moral standards. In 1992 Bush lost because the economy was bad and because Patrick Buchanan had convinced a majority of voters that all the Republican Party cared about was saving your soul, not helping your pocketbook. Clinton was a safe bet because he agreed with most conservative cultural issues - he was pro-death penalty, anti-gun control, pro-balanced budget - but he didn't preach about cultural issues. When he had an affair with an intern, he could credibly claim that what really mattered to the country was not the morality of the country, but how financially prosperous everyone was. With the Internet Economy booming, this was a reasonable claim.
8 years later, the environment is different. The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, provided ammunition for the Republicans to say, "See, we were right all along about the moral condition of the country, and this is what happened. Clinton did nothing to prevent this from happening because he only cared about money. Well, money doesn't protect people's lives, but moral standards do protect lives." Thus, the conclusion many people were forced to make after that day was this: "Maybe I don't have to become a high-powered CEO. Maybe my mission in life is to be a good Dad/Mom/Wife/Friend/Lover. " Since the areas of attack were the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the implicit message was that "wealth is dangerous". Consequently, many people started to believe that not only was it more important to have moral standards than to be rich, they also started to believe that wealth creates lax morals. Thus, the richer a person is, the more sacrilegious he is. This belief was reinforced on television and movies, where reality TV shows, MTV, and other elements of pop culture were showing people doing the most insane things for money.
As a result of this changed environment, the Republican Party now argues, "Moral standards are the only way to protect our way of life from terrorists", and many people agree with them. In contrast, the Democratic Party now says, "Morality isn't as important as wealth", which causes many white, working class people to think that the Democratic Party never learned the lesson from the terrorist attacks. Hence, the message voters send to the Democrats is, "we care more about morality and our way of life than we care about getting rich, because if we are rich we ignore our loved ones, and we ignore God and community."
Thus, the problem with the Democrats is the problem that every party or army faces after defeat. They think they can win the way they fought the last war or battle. They don't realize that the environment has changed, and that a new message is needed.
The United States now cares very little about economic prosperity. Instead, it cares much more about having a community. Republicans provide that community through church, talk radio, and cable television. The Democrats have not yet learned how to provide a community because the only thing they know how to do is criticize the bad content in church, talk radio, and cable television. Thus, Republicans provide a function, and Democrats focus on the form instead of the function. What Democrats need to do is find ways to provide the same function, but in a better form.
posted by Marriah @ 2:34 PM
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