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View Full Version : The future of Obama's coalition



Mister D
11-29-2011, 03:04 PM
One outcome could be a stronger party of the left in national and local elections. An alternate outcome could be exacerbated intra-party conflict between whites, blacks and Hispanics—populations frequently marked by diverging material interests.


Where have I heard that warning before?

Good article

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For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.
All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment — professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists — and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic.


http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/the-future-of-the-obama-coalition/

Conley
11-29-2011, 04:12 PM
Interesting...the article mentions the voters who have gotten ahead based on educational attainment but I bet many of those artists, designers, editors, social workers, etc. really aren't that much better off than the lower-income minority voters they're being compared to.

Mister D
11-29-2011, 04:14 PM
Thsoe don't sound like high paying positions but it will still put you in the lower middle class at least.

Conley
11-29-2011, 07:56 PM
True, but these days it seems to me lower middle class is basically lower class. I am thinking 30-40k/year, maybe I'm wrong. I don't see how anyone can support a family on that unless you live somewhere very inexpensive (i.e. rural). Truth be told that could well be a better place to raise your kids.

Mister D
11-29-2011, 08:01 PM
True, but these days it seems to me lower middle class is basically lower class. I am thinking 30-40k/year, maybe I'm wrong. I don't see how anyone can support a family on that unless you live somewhere very inexpensive (i.e. rural). Truth be told that could well be a better place to raise your kids.

Oh yeah. Supporting a family would be rough. You'd be surprised though. My brother lives in LA now and I haven't asked what he makes but I'm sure he doesn't make much more than me. He did when he was here but you get a NJ salary in LA. He's got three kids now and they do fine.

Conley
11-29-2011, 08:07 PM
Wow, well kudos to him. There is also something to be said for not buying the latest flat screen TV on layaway and a bunch of other crap you don't need, which I suspect he doesn't. I think I could support kids just fine up until college. At that point they'd have to go to local schools because even in-state tuition has gotten ridiculous. I guess I would pay for a big/private school it if the kid was committed to a good major but even then things can change.

Mister D
11-29-2011, 08:10 PM
For sure. My habits are pretty good at this point and it helps me live comfortably. I don't spend foolishly. I make a couple major indulgence purchases a year. For example, I'll by a military antique or something like that.

Yeah, college will be rough but perhaps less people will feel the need for it.