LBJ thought that the Democratic Party lost the South for a generation after he signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It turns out that the Democratic Party lost a good chunk of the white vote and its been for multiple generations. Republicans are going to use racism to win elections as long it is a succesful tactic. The only solution seems to be waiting for the demographics to change.

That will not be sufficient. 

There will be more and more thorough efforts at denying minorities the vote as demographics change.

Well, I suppose the silver lining, assuming Angle wins, is that at least Harry “The Coward” Reid will be out of the Majority Leader spot and we’ll have a chance for a Democrat who might actually fight getting it.  I doubt it, our Senate Democrats seem convinced that spineless cowardice is what the Democratic party really needs, but it’s at least a chance.

This is all about getting the vote out. Get the vote out and the “likely voter” screens won’t mean shit.

Phone bank!

It doesn’t seem like the Latino voting block has the same susceptibility to “I’ve got mine” syndrome that other oppressed groups has. I hope this is the case and they can vote this fascist demagogue out of town on a rail.

Republicans aren’t going to do anything to actually get rid of the Mexican immigrants that the voters hate so much.  They’ll probably just keep making it hard for immigrants to achieve citizenship or get fair wages for their work.

Or just take another shot at formalising the crappy situation with a guest worker scheme. The Dems could point out the nature of the GOP establishment’s cheap-labour slant and deny them a good part of the Know-Nothing vote, but of course they don’t.

There will be more and more thorough efforts at denying minorities the vote as demographics change.

Yep. The Tea Party thugs are already prepared to intimidate minorities at the polls next week. I read about one small town where they turned away a resident from the polls with the claim that only property owners could vote. And I have no doubt that the Thatcherite favourite, the poll tax, will be increasingly floated by American RWAs.

The end of Boomer dominance in politics will see a lot of positive changes, but before they’re done the conservative ones are going to put as many privilege-retention mechanisms in place as possible for the benefit of their grandchildren, the republic be damned.

“LBJ thought that the Democratic Party lost the South for a generation after he signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It turns out that the Democratic Party lost a good chunk of the white vote and its been for multiple generations.”

We were all taught in school that the Confederacy lost in the Civil War.  That has also turned out to be overly optimistic.

It really seems they just turned the stove down to simmer for a century or so, and then rose up to takeover the opposing political party and carry on not too far from where they left off in 1865.

The Solid (Conservative) South was Democratic way back in the day, with extreme hatred of all things Republican, until Nixon’s Southern Strategy welcomed those who were pissed about gains Blacks made because of Civil Rights Marches and civil rights legislation — which are undeniably linked to the Democratic Party. 

Since then, they’ve all become Republicans — the current Republican Party being the virtually exact doppelgänger of what the Democratic Party was for the same people in the pre-war South, during Reconstruction, and then most of the rest of the years until the ‘60s.  Plus, instead of being primarily limited to the South, as it was previously, the “conservative” cancer has spread through out the country.  The only thing missing (for now) is a call for re-instituting slavery.  Which the way things have been going will come up any day now…

Abraham Lincoln would be completely unable to recognize what is currently called the Republican Party…

It’s racist of you to talk about racism.

(Just thought I’d give our usual trolls a break, so they’d have more time to gaze adoringly at the head-stomp video.)

Mike, it’s more fair to say that both parties had progressive and conservative wings until the 1960s. One of the more redeeming qualities of the Democratic Party in the late 19th Century for example was that they were anti-imperialist and against the big bankers.

“You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”“—William Jennings Bryan (D)

MikeEss, its unfair to compare the Democratic Party of time before the 1960s to the current Republican Party. Unfair to the old Democratic Party. Despite the South, the old Democratic Party fought for liberal policies. The Dixiecrats usually went along if Civil Rights were not involved. The Republican Party of today combines the worst of the old Democratic Party with the economic conservatism and military adventurism that has long afflicted large parts of it since then end of Reconstruction.

Republicans aren’t going to do anything to actually get rid of the Mexican immigrants that the voters hate so much.  They’ll probably just keep making it hard for immigrants to achieve citizenship or get fair wages for their work.

Or they’ll harass them systematically with SB-1070 style laws.

So far today I’ve seen a story about voters in a largely black district in Texas being sent fliers stating that if they vote the straight Democratic ticket they will actually be casting votes for republicans. And another one that said 82% of the 600 “questionable” absentee ballots under investigation by a republican controlled election board in Pennsylvania were votes for Democrats. And that’s just today. Since the start of September, I think I’ve read at least five stories a day all across the country about attempts to disenfranchise voters in Democratic leaning areas.

So yes, their strategy is clearly to continue playing on fear and hate since that has worked so well for decades. And now they are ramping up the “voter fraud” myth so they can claim that elections were stolen by people who aren’t real amurcans.

@Comment #13: serious bette on 10/28 at 11:20 AM

And the most infuriating part of it all? The complete and total lack of response from the folks who ought to care about these tactics, if only due to self-interest: the Democrats.

http://bit.ly/9gKjhJ Salon catalogues some of the bestest racist ads of this year, I think this one is in there.

The Know Nothing Party never ever left, they just joined the Republican Party.

The Know Nothing Party never ever left, they just joined the Republican Party.

The Republican Party has never been friendly to immigrants in the entirety of its history. It’s always been the Party of Natavists, more or less, even in its more progressive days.

You can’t really identify the parties by label back in time past a certain point without getting very confused. The Democrats were the extremely racist, nativist party of the working white man, focused on fighting big business and making sure that blacks were kept in their place and everyone else was kept out. The Republicans were the party of civil rights and Union, theoretically, but in fact used the black vote as a tool to protect business interests and to advance their own power. (Well, some were sincere, I’m sure.)

That all changed a long time ago, which is why anyone less than about 75 (or with a grounding in the fairly arcane world of American party politics in the 19th and early 20th centuries) is going to read the above paragraph and say “WTF??????” But it’s true. These days it’s the Republicans who have abandoned commitment to civil rights, for the most part, while Democrats have picked up that mantle. (And of course, end up doing exactly what the Republicans used to do - treat the black community as a vote bank.) And both parties are now pro-big-business.

It’s a dangerous game.  These commercials might as well be a GOTV for Harry Reid’s Latino constituency.

And if that happens, the pundits and pollsters are going to have some real egg on their face. They’re really going all in on an old, white electorate in their likely voter screens. Even more so than in past midterms.

“Is this the post where you apologize to Rand Paul?”

No, Amanda has nothing to apologize for.

But this may be the post where the quality of your comments finally exceeds the Universal Troll Constant…

Well, I suppose the silver lining, assuming Angle wins, is that at least Harry “The Coward” Reid will be out of the Majority Leader spot and we’ll have a chance for a Democrat who might actually fight getting it.  I doubt it, our Senate Democrats seem convinced that spineless cowardice is what the Democratic party really needs, but it’s at least a chance.

Should Reid lose, he’ll be replaced by either Dick Durbin or Chuck Schumer in his leadership position. I think either one of them would be better than Reid, but I don’t believe either one would create a seismic shift in the milquetoast nature of average Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

I really have no idea how Nevada will turn out, though I will say that should Harry Reid keep his job, it won’t be because of a strong affirmation of his job performance, but rather a strong rejection of his opponent. In the minds of most Nevada voters who will be pulling the lever for him on Tuesday, he is quite literally “the lesser of two evils”.

Aside from my own state, where Tom Delay’s former BFF Roy Blunt looks virtually guaranteed to become Missouri’s next U.S. Senator, the election that saddens me most is the U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin. I was not particularly saddened by polls showing that Sen. Blanche Lincoln is going to get decimated in her own race. She’s proven herself to be one of the most useless members of the Democratic Caucus over the past few years. But Russ Feingold has been one of the strongest voices of the progressive movement in the U.S. Senate, and it’s very probable that he’s going to get voted out next week. And that really sucks, if that’s what happens.

Plus, instead of being primarily limited to the South, as it was previously, the “conservative” cancer has spread through out the country.

The Mountain West troubles me… after the 2008 election, there was talk of the Democrats locking it up for a generation, but I think we’re about to find out that region of the country is not yet quite as progressive as we want to believe. It’s hard to label Nevada and Colorado as solid blue states at this point, as both are very much in play this year.

Gee, Mr Paul, I’m sorry you’re an asshole with bad hair.

I’m sorry your followers are psychotic.

I’m sorry your views are backward and bad for the country.

I’m sorry you’re named after a bad writer and terrible “philosopher”.

I’m sorry you have a goldbug, reactionary kook cult leader for a father, Rand.

Should Reid lose, he’ll be replaced by either Dick Durbin or Chuck Schumer in his leadership position.

I wouldn’t mind Schumer in that role. The man never met a camera he didn’t like and is owned as much as any other senator by corporate interests, but he was a fierce advocate for his constituents, at least when I was one. I don’t know how well that will translate into being Majority or Minority Leader, but he’ll definitely be more aggressive than Reid.

He’s not actually named after Ayn Rand, not that anyone cares, including me.

Dear Rand Paul,
I’m so sorry your goons weren’t smart enough to avoid getting videotaped being goons. That must be so hard for you. And for them, too…no room at the Gulch for bad PR.
I’m also sorry that your supporters, especially on this thread, haven’t the brains god gave a slug.
I’m sorry to say, that I’m not actually sorry about any of this. But I am sorry you exist.

Bisous!

I’m sorry that Rand Paul is actually an android.

I’m sorry (for you) that the GOP actually had to spend money on a Kentucky Senate race in 2010 because you nominated such a kook.

I’m sorry that Paul doesn’t even have the leadership ability to discipline his own people.

I’m sorry that Paul is so in love with the idea of vigilante militias that his followers have taken it to heart.

I’m sorry that Paul is willing to place the threat assessment skills of a middle-aged non-professional yahoo with impulse control issues ahead of those belonging to the professional bodyguards he spent good money hiring.

I’m sorry that Paul is so deluded to believe that Democratic supporters have been just as violent in this election as Republican ones.

Finally, I’m sorry that despite all of this Paul is taken seriously as a candidate by anyone. That’s not really Paul’s fault, though—it’s more the fault of Libertarian dopes who believe that Paul is owed any sort of apology.

I’m sorry we called you a fascist enabler, Rand Paul. I know the truth hurts.

I’m sorry that Rand Paul believes in the crackpot theories of Austrian “economics”.

(I didn’t capitalize it on purpose. It’s not a real school of economics. It doesn’t use math, for fucks sake).

I’m sorry Rand Paul is such a scaredy baby that a small woman carrying a flyer makes him wet his wittle Pull-Ups. Pee pee goes in the potty, Rand honey. Now finish your milk and bananas, it is nap time.

I’m sorry Rand Paul is a man out of his time.  I’m not sorry his real time was bought to an end in a Berlin bunker last century.

That’s Ayn-droid.  As we all know, math is connected to that evil sciency stuff and them there elitist types.  Real “economics” makes sense, so you can just rely on your gut, don’t ya know?

The fact that this thread has morphed, seemlessly, into a Rand Paul “apology” thread is an example of why I love this site so much.

Er, make that “seamlessly.”

I’m sorry that Rand Paul is so unable to deal with other people that rather routine interactions (like having someone try to force you to take a piece of paper) frighten him to such an extent that his followers must make him feel better by committing violent assaults.

I’m sorry they are all such horrible people that violent assaults make them feel better.

(And, while this isn’t an apology, Rand should really stay out of cities like D.C. for his own peace of mind.  Living in a city, I am routinely “assaulted” by individuals collecting for charity and Christians witnessing through tracts.  Judging from this situation, Rand Paul wouldn’t be brave enough to respond as I do to the latter groups.  Collecting Christian tracts is one of the cheaper and kitschy-er hobbies to have.  Jack Chick FTW!)

I’m sorry Libertarian doesn’t understand that it’s wrong to pin down a small woman and stomp on her, no matter how much Ayn Rand deserved it.

I’m sorry Dr. Rand Paul wasn’t such a great Opthamologist that he wouldn’t even think of entering politics instead of continuing to work in his chosen field…a field where he would leave (most of) the rest of us alone…as opposed to politics where he would have an opportunity to fuck up millions of people, instead of a relative handful…

Atheist at 29: Thats a slur and an insult, to androids. What did they do that was so bad that they are being compared to Rand Paul?;).

The greatest part of Angle’s campaign, and her supporters: voting for her will fuck their state up.

Even if the Democrats lose seats and become the minority party, he’d still be the Senate Minority Leader. With all the clout and pull for the region that comes with it. You want federal money to come to your state? You want your concerns and interests to be ones that are addressed? having the Majority Leader from your state, or even the minority leader be from your state, means you get that.

Instead, you replace him with an impolitic slogan shouting freshman senator with few if any political allies in either party. And Reid isn’t exactly a staunch liberal, he’s pretty centrist. Conservatives should be happier with him than you would think such a firm drive to oust him would indicate.

Nevadans should know, a vote for Sharron Angle is a vote for political irrelevance. It’s almost Dadaist in its self destructiveness.

Karpad—SD chose irrelevance just 6 years ago.

illegal immigrants who are here illegally ? Is there any other kind ?

Grammar isn’t their thing, is it ?

“Collecting Christian tracts is one of the cheaper and kitschy-er hobbies to have.”

Off topic, but I love that I am not the only person that does this.

The one thing that makes me think Harry Reid has a chance, iis Nevada has a large Mormon population, which generally votes republican but I think Angle has managed to offend them pretty well, and Harry Ried is a Mormon.  So I am hoping he outperforms the polls by a few points, but we shall see.

@Fatman

And now you can applaud yourself for having more courage than Rand Paul and his thugs.  Pieces of paper are evidently way scarier than openly carried firearms.  And we not only can handle them, but encourage the paper-pushers to “Bring it on!”  It isn’t much of an accomplishment, but I for one am totally taking it.