So long, Delmarva Democrats

Nope, I’m not leaving – but the Democrats are leaving you.

As I often do in the afternoon I was listening to Rush Limbaugh when he cited an article by Thomas F. Schaller. Writing on Salon.com, Schaller’s article entitled “So long, white boy” talks about how the Democrat party is finally starting to abandon its appeals to the “NASCAR dads”; you know, the ones whose daddy was a Democrat but they turned away from the party when the Democrats began questioning the NASCAR dads’ passion about God, guns, and country. Schaller puts it this way:

Start looking on milk cartons for Bubba because he has vanished, and not a moment too soon: The Democratic obsession with the down-home, blue-collar, white male voter, that heartbreaker who crossed the aisle to the Republicans many decades ago, may finally be coming to a merciful end.

The first thing that gets you is the tone. Schaller seems to relish the thought of those redneck men leaving the Democrat party – let the GOP have those stupid God-fearing NASCAR fans with their pickup trucks and the gun racks, those HICKS. They don’t outweigh the black vote that we get 90% of anyway and we really want the Latino vote because their population is growing. Apparently the only white guys Democrats want are the union members, but that number is shrinking too except for those who inhabit government positions and that group pretty much knows which side its bread is buttered on.

It got me to thinking about local politics. Here in Wicomico County, we have the situation where a lot of Democrats fit in one way or another into the group Schaller disdains in his piece. Accordingly, many of them are registered Democrat but in the privacy of the voting booth vote GOP or at least split the ticket, maybe voting Democrat for the downticket races and GOP statewide. As I see it, many Democrats here are what remains of the old-fashioned Southern Democrat – for the common working man and with a love of God, guns, and country. As Schaller said, most crossed to the GOP decades ago but many here still hang on despite the state- and national-level party abandoning them to seek an anti-religious, anti-Second Amendment, anti-Long War base – in other words, the academic and effete snobs of the world.

That crossover to the GOP is reflected in voter registration statistics. Here are the Wicomico County and state voter registration numbers for January 2000:

Wicomico County:

  • 20,873 Democrats
  • 14,911 Republicans
  • 4,648 non-affiliated

State of Maryland:

  • 1,478,881 Democrats
  • 765,999 Republicans
  • 320,347 non-affiliated

 

Now here’s the latest numbers (August 2007) available from the state Board of Elections. Actually, the local rolls were purged after July so both parties lost several hundred voters.

Wicomico County:

  • 22,473 Democrats (up 7.67% from 1-00)
  • 18,471 Republicans (up 23.87% from 1-00)
  • 6,868 unaffiliated (up 47.76% from 1-00)

State of Maryland:

  • 1,714,431 Democrats (up 15.93% from 1-00)
  • 884,963 Republicans (up 15.53% from 1-00)
  • 437,806 non-affiliated (up 36.67% from 1-00)

The GOP and non-affilated growth locally outpaces the state’s numbers while the Democrats lag behind. Already in Wicomico County the unaffiliated voter is the kingmaker and both parties strive to appeal to them because neither party can get a majority on its own. However, I’d prefer the Democrats just go right ahead and come on over to the GOP because your party has left you. Does Hillary Clinton really represent your views? And as you can see the Democrat party, home of our tax-and-spend Governor O’Malley, is growing faster elsewhere in Maryland so the old-style Democrats on the Eastern Shore are seeing their party influence dwindle.

In sum, Schaller’s piece just says out loud what many area Democrats have already suspected – the Democrat party is saying so long to its faithful on the Eastern Shore. Maybe it’s time for you to say goodbye to them as well.

(Late edit: the final date for switching party registration is November 19 for the February 2008 primary.)

Crossposted on RedMaryland.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

4 thoughts on “So long, Delmarva Democrats”

  1. Yes, it does seem the Democrats are writing off the “Bubba” vote. That may benefit the GOP. However, I’m worried that the GOP will soon only have “Bubbas” as its constituency. It seems to be doing its best to shun minority voters and suburban voters. And while there are areas (such as the Eastern Shore or my home state, Idaho) where winning the “Bubba” vote means you win the election, that strategy won’t mean national electoral success.

    For instance, the hysteria that many in the GOP grassroots show over illegal immigration is doing a lot to guarantee we’ll never see much in the way of minority votes. Whether this anti-immigration demagoguery is motivated by racism, ignorance, or true concern (and I think there is a healthy mixture of all three), it comes across to minority voters as racist, and in politics perception is everything.

    We Republicans in Wicomico County write off about 30% of the electorate because they have black or brown skin. I’m not saying we’re racist in doing this, since it makes some sense to ignore groups that haven’t traditionally voted for you. We figure that blacks and Latinos don’t vote Republican and don’t share our ideas. Well, we need to ask them to vote Republican. We need to show them we have ideas that will benefit everyone in Wicomico County — black, white, and Latino. Of course, most of the folks in our midst would rather froth at the mouth about the supposed horde of Mexicans invading our nation and taking all our welfare.

    The GOP needs to wake up and realize that minority voters play an increasingly important role in national, state, and local elections. We need to change with the times and appeal to these voters.

  2. I think the Republic Party is really the one that has abandoned the good ol’ boy white males, they just don’t know it yet. So where are those blue collar white males going to work under the Republics? They are selling your jobs to India and Mexico, my friends. And when you do lose your job, God help you if a Republic is in charge, ’cause you are going to lose your healthcare. Tax and spend Democrats? Well, how about the spend and spend Republics? Sure, the Republics have cut taxes, but not for the NASCAR dads. They are cut for the owners of the teams. When are you guys going to take notice that the Republics do NOT have your interest at heart, they just put on a Southern drawl, wave a flag, and hope you don’t notice what their policies are really doing–crushing the middle class, allowing education to be pitiful (especially in areas that are bastions for the Republic party), and setting up boogeymen to make you freak out (look out, here comes a roving band of gays for our children)! I’m not saying the Democratic Party is perfect, and I realize there are hypocrites there, but come on, people. Look at their actual policies, not just the cool tv commercials and the slogans. The Republics have done a masterful job convincing poor and middle class white men that they are the party that represents them through propaganda that says the democrats will get rid of the Second Amendment, and other nonsense. Think about it it–it is REALLY hard to amend the Constitution, it ain’t gonna happen. You may not like the Democrats, but look beyond the rhetoric and ask whether the Republics truly are looking out for you in important areas such as the economy, health care, and education.

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