Music to read by:
If there's a time that we ever see
The nature of life in reality
The nature of life in reality
Oh I want to be there to kick out "The Answer"
I can't take this attitude I've gotta show now I've got to move on
I can't take this attitude I've gotta show now I've got to move on
When it comes down to my soul freedom puts my faith in none of the above
None of the above, my faith in none of the above, none of the above
I stand by none of the above, none of the above, I stand by none of the above
None of the above
None of the above, my faith in none of the above, none of the above
I stand by none of the above, none of the above, I stand by none of the above
None of the above
By Sean Trende
Tuesday night, President Obama continued his streak of poor primary
performances in culturally Southern states. He received 58.4 percent of
the vote in the Arkansas Democratic primary against token opposition,
and 57.9 percent of the vote in the Kentucky primary against no
opposition (42.1 percent of the vote went to "uncommitted"). In the
latter state's Harlan County, in the heart of coal country, Obama
received 26.2 percent of the vote.
This comes on the heels of losing 40.6 percent of the vote in West Virginia to
a Texas prison inmate, 21 percent of the vote to “uncommitted” in North
Carolina, 24 percent of the vote to token opposition in Louisiana, 19
percent of the vote to “uncommitted” in Alabama, and 43 percent of the
vote to various candidates in Oklahoma.
To be clear, with the exception of North Carolina, none of these
states is in play. Obama is expected to lose West Virginia, Kentucky,
and Arkansas badly in the fall. He had similar problems with these
states in the 2008 Democratic primaries, losing West Virginia and
Kentucky by massive margins to Hillary Clinton even after he was
acknowledged as the Democratic nominee. And Obama remains very popular
overall with the Democratic base.
But there are three ways in which these states really do matter.
1) This is beginning to function as an unprecedented primary challenge to Obama.
Using my handy “C.Q. Guide to U.S. Elections,” I went back to the
birth of presidential primaries in 1912. There are only seven sitting
presidents who have ever received less than 60 percent of the vote in
any primary: Taft in ’12; Coolidge, ’24; Hoover, ’32; LBJ, ’68; Ford
'76; Carter, ’80; and Bush ’92. All of these presidents, with the
exception of Coolidge, were not re-elected -- and he eventually faced a
substantial third-party challenge from one of his primary challengers.
Moreover, consider the men who brought these challenges: former
President Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, Sen. Bob LaFollette in 1924, Sen.
Joseph France of Maryland in 1932, Sen. Eugene McCarthy in 1968, Gov.
Ronald Reagan in 1976, Sen. Ted Kennedy in 1980, and TV commentator Pat
Buchanan in 1992.
Obviously the quality here varies substantially, but
all of these upstarts began with a much stronger national profile than
Keith Judd or John Wolfe.
I think we can reasonably begin to view this as a sort of organic
primary challenge to Obama, which runs strongly in the Southern and
border states. Obama’s not likely to lose any states outright in the
primaries; think of this more like Buchanan’s run against George H.W.
Bush in 1992.
This is only relevant because a lot of people attribute some
significance to the fact that Obama, unlike the other presidents who
lost in postwar America, has avoided a substantial primary challenge.
I’ve always been skeptical that this is the proper metric. Primary
challenges strike me as a symptom, not a cause, of presidential
weakness. Just as diseases can be present without all symptoms,
presidential weakness can be present without a primary challenge. And,
as always, we should be skeptical when making judgments on the basis of a
fairly small number of observations.
But if you do attribute
substantial importance to the lack of a primary challenge to the
president, then I think you must re-evaluate, especially when you
consider the weakness of his primary opponents.
2) It may matter a lot in swing states that border these states.
What we’re really talking about here, and as I explored in great detail in "The Lost Majority,"
is "Greater Appalachia," an area that was settled by Scots-Irish
immigrants in the late 18th century and that has retained an attachment
to Jacksonian populism since then. This region begins in western
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina, stretches through the
Appalachians and across the Cumberland Plateau, and spills over into
southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, across Missouri and Arkansas, and
into north Texas and Oklahoma. It also brushes along the northern edges
of Mississippi and Alabama.
Now, no one expects West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky to
be a part of Obama’s coalition this fall. But lots of people are
looking at Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. These
states are where this primary weakness becomes potentially significant. All four of those states have substantial populations in areas
geographically and culturally similar to these “problem areas”:
southwestern Pennsylvania, western Virginia and North Carolina, and
southeastern Ohio. In all of these states, Obama’s path to victory is to
hold down his losses in rural areas, and then maximize his vote among
upscale and minority voters in urban areas.
In 2008 this strategy worked well, in large part because the
financial collapse produced a large turnaround in the voting preferences
of whites without college degrees. He still performed relatively poorly
for a Democrat among these voters, but his margins were enough to
enable him to capture these four states. If he’s facing a virtual
rebellion among rural white Democrats (and presumably a similar problem
with independents) this time around, his odds of capturing these four
states diminish appreciably. Once again, this isn’t to say that he will
necessarily lose, just that his path to re-election narrows if Romney is
racking up big wins in the 11th District of North Carolina, or in the
old 6th District of Ohio.
3) It’s a critical problem for the "Emerging Democratic Majority" thesis.
Democrats are ecstatic with their prospects in the Mountain West, and
with good reason. Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado have all swung
substantially their way over the past three decades. To illustrate this,
check out the following map, which shows the PVI of the Mountain West
states in 1996 and 2008 (PVI is simply the percentage of the vote the
state gave to the Democratic presidential candidate, minus the
Democratic presidential candidates’ national showing):
But -- and this is a problem for the thesis in general -- for every
action in politics, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Here’s the
map of Greater Appalachia during this time frame:
The Mountain West trend has gotten a lot of coverage; the trend in
Greater Appalachia has been much less well covered. And to be clear,
this isn’t an abrupt, anti-Obama trend in Greater Appalachia, nor is it
an abrupt, pro-Obama trend in the Mountain West. Instead it’s a gradual
trend, reflecting the shifting demographics and voter trends in these
regions. See, for example, the change over time in Nevada’s PVI, and
compare it to the change over time in, say, Kentucky’s PVI.
When the "Emerging Democratic Majority" was written, John Judis and
Ruy Teixeira suggested that the shift in the Mountain West would occur:
New Mexico is rated “Solid Democratic,” Nevada is rated “Leans
Democratic,” and Colorado and Arizona are “Leaning GOP, but
competitive.” This probably worked out to be correct, if a bit
under-optimistic in Colorado’s case.
But the trend in the Appalachian states was overlooked: West Virginia is “Leans Democratic,” Missouri is “Leans Democratic,” and Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee are “Leans GOP but competitive.”
Judis and Teixeira appropriately note that their predictions are conditional on a number of contingencies, but this is not an insignificant shift. The three Mountain West states -- four if we are generous and include Arizona -- comprise a total of 31 electoral votes and contain 23 House seats. Our states in Greater Appalachia comprise 47 electoral votes and contain 35 House seats, plus another 10 or so House seats in neighboring areas.
To be sure, the Mountain West states have been growing, while Greater Appalachia has been in decline. But it will take about 30 years before these Mountain West states, including Arizona, equal our Jacksonian states in terms of the Electoral College. By that point, our political coalitions will have probably shifted a few more times, making it impossible to say who will get the better of the tradeoff in the long run.
In the short term, this tradeoff has had critical implications for recent Republican successes. Of the 63 seats Republicans picked up in 2010, 15 were in Greater Appalachia. Without these seats, their majority would be much slimmer, and Democrats would be only 10 seats from a majority, rather than 25. Many of these seats represent districts that Bill Clinton had been competitive in during the 1996 elections, but which have slipped away from his party since as the Democrats have become increasingly liberal, urban and culturally cosmopolitan.
This is the real reason Tuesday night's results are significant. I actually don’t think these voters are complete lost causes for the Democratic Party -- Republicans should be trembling at the prospect of a true populist like Brian Schweitzer of Montana running against Romney in 2016. But they do seem to be rejecting the Democratic standard-bearer for now. Given the sizable number of potential electoral votes at stake, this is not small potatoes. And the potential obstacles posed to Democratic attempts to take back the House stemming from this weakness are both real and substantial.
Sophie:
As I wrote elsewhere:
Why did Reagan crush Carter by 10 points when Carter had been up by 6 in October?
Sure, unemployment, inflation, the Misery Index, etc., all played a huge role, but the real reason was the bloc of Reagan Democrats. He did it with Democrats that crossed over and, specifically, with the types of Democrats that are voting for an imprisoned felon, Mr Uncommitted, and a Tennessee lawyer in primaries with Obama. It was the blue-collar, union, rural, suburban, predominantly white and Christian Democrats that crossed over and voted Republican that caused a landslide.
People were sick of Carter, whose abysmal record meant that he could only run against the bogeyman by trying to make Reagan out to be a wild-eyed radical that would do away with Social Security and start WWIII. As the campaign went on, Reagan began to cross the threshold where people could actually see him as a POTUS. They also began to fear the uncertainty of a Reagan presidency far, far less than the certainty of another Carter term. This is why Obama is trying to paint Romney as a some radical person, but only fools are going to believe that. (I’m a libertarian and only voting GOP to get rid of Obama). Romney is not scary to independents and Reagan Democrats.
It didn't work with Carter and there is reason to believe that it will fail with Obama, as well.
Yes, WV, KY, and AR were never going to go for Obama in November, but you have to look at who was voting against Obama in those CLOSED Democratic primaries and whether they have counterparts in other states in large blocs. They do....OH, PA, VA, NC, MO, IN, IA, etc.
For example, ALL of Kentucky’s counties that border Ohio voted for Mr Uncommitted in the Democratic primary. Culturally, economically, professionally, traditionally, and historically, these are the same voters in southern Ohio, especially southeast Ohio.
That's why the WH should be very concerned.
Obviously, Obama has a problem with a significant part of his base: blue-collar, union workers in Appalachia and the Midwest, especially in coal states. Turnout was only around 10%, but 42% of the vote was cast by Democrats, who left home/work, got in the car, drove to the polling stations, and voted AGAINST the POTUS, who is the leader of their party.
People don't get off of their couches and go cast a vote for NO ONE unless they are really, really pissed off. At this point, I think that we can safely say that a good chunk of the Democratic party is really, really pissed off at Obama. They may not cross over and vote for Romney in November, but I can't imagine them showing up in droves at the polling places to cast votes for Obama either. To win, Obama actually needs a greater turnout than he had in 2008 because of electoral college changes resulting from the census.
But the trend in the Appalachian states was overlooked: West Virginia is “Leans Democratic,” Missouri is “Leans Democratic,” and Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee are “Leans GOP but competitive.”
Judis and Teixeira appropriately note that their predictions are conditional on a number of contingencies, but this is not an insignificant shift. The three Mountain West states -- four if we are generous and include Arizona -- comprise a total of 31 electoral votes and contain 23 House seats. Our states in Greater Appalachia comprise 47 electoral votes and contain 35 House seats, plus another 10 or so House seats in neighboring areas.
In other words, by ceding these core
Jacksonian states to the Republicans, Democrats are ceding about 20
percent of the House seats needed for a majority in exchange for 10
percent of the House seats needed for a majority.
To be sure, the Mountain West states have been growing, while Greater Appalachia has been in decline. But it will take about 30 years before these Mountain West states, including Arizona, equal our Jacksonian states in terms of the Electoral College. By that point, our political coalitions will have probably shifted a few more times, making it impossible to say who will get the better of the tradeoff in the long run.
In the short term, this tradeoff has had critical implications for recent Republican successes. Of the 63 seats Republicans picked up in 2010, 15 were in Greater Appalachia. Without these seats, their majority would be much slimmer, and Democrats would be only 10 seats from a majority, rather than 25. Many of these seats represent districts that Bill Clinton had been competitive in during the 1996 elections, but which have slipped away from his party since as the Democrats have become increasingly liberal, urban and culturally cosmopolitan.
This is the real reason Tuesday night's results are significant. I actually don’t think these voters are complete lost causes for the Democratic Party -- Republicans should be trembling at the prospect of a true populist like Brian Schweitzer of Montana running against Romney in 2016. But they do seem to be rejecting the Democratic standard-bearer for now. Given the sizable number of potential electoral votes at stake, this is not small potatoes. And the potential obstacles posed to Democratic attempts to take back the House stemming from this weakness are both real and substantial.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As I wrote elsewhere:
Why did Reagan crush Carter by 10 points when Carter had been up by 6 in October?
Sure, unemployment, inflation, the Misery Index, etc., all played a huge role, but the real reason was the bloc of Reagan Democrats. He did it with Democrats that crossed over and, specifically, with the types of Democrats that are voting for an imprisoned felon, Mr Uncommitted, and a Tennessee lawyer in primaries with Obama. It was the blue-collar, union, rural, suburban, predominantly white and Christian Democrats that crossed over and voted Republican that caused a landslide.
People were sick of Carter, whose abysmal record meant that he could only run against the bogeyman by trying to make Reagan out to be a wild-eyed radical that would do away with Social Security and start WWIII. As the campaign went on, Reagan began to cross the threshold where people could actually see him as a POTUS. They also began to fear the uncertainty of a Reagan presidency far, far less than the certainty of another Carter term. This is why Obama is trying to paint Romney as a some radical person, but only fools are going to believe that. (I’m a libertarian and only voting GOP to get rid of Obama). Romney is not scary to independents and Reagan Democrats.
It didn't work with Carter and there is reason to believe that it will fail with Obama, as well.
Yes, WV, KY, and AR were never going to go for Obama in November, but you have to look at who was voting against Obama in those CLOSED Democratic primaries and whether they have counterparts in other states in large blocs. They do....OH, PA, VA, NC, MO, IN, IA, etc.
For example, ALL of Kentucky’s counties that border Ohio voted for Mr Uncommitted in the Democratic primary. Culturally, economically, professionally, traditionally, and historically, these are the same voters in southern Ohio, especially southeast Ohio.
That's why the WH should be very concerned.
Obviously, Obama has a problem with a significant part of his base: blue-collar, union workers in Appalachia and the Midwest, especially in coal states. Turnout was only around 10%, but 42% of the vote was cast by Democrats, who left home/work, got in the car, drove to the polling stations, and voted AGAINST the POTUS, who is the leader of their party.
People don't get off of their couches and go cast a vote for NO ONE unless they are really, really pissed off. At this point, I think that we can safely say that a good chunk of the Democratic party is really, really pissed off at Obama. They may not cross over and vote for Romney in November, but I can't imagine them showing up in droves at the polling places to cast votes for Obama either. To win, Obama actually needs a greater turnout than he had in 2008 because of electoral college changes resulting from the census.
Six months of attacking capitalism, the free market, and Bain isn't going to help Obama either. The polls show that this mode of attack is turning off suburban Democrats and Independents. Further, the Bain attacks, thus far, are quite pitiful, as demonstrated in an op-ed by Lanny Davis today:
"The ad featured several of them blaming Romney and Bain for the lost jobs, but it omitted several facts, such as:
Mitt Romney had left Bain Capital two years before bankruptcy had been declared.
The head of Bain at the time of the GS bankruptcy decision is now a major Obama fundraiser.
Bain invested another $100 million in plant modernization and four years later the company reportedly had reached more than $1 billion in revenues.
After the company went bankrupt in 2001, the president of the plant’s union didn’t blame Bain but rather, cheap foreign imports. “We can’t compete against the steel imports that are being sold under cost,” he said.
It’s difficult to argue, even if you are a partisan Obama supporter, as I am, that this ad is not at least somewhat misleading."
If Obama doesn’t start speaking positively and talking about what he would do in a second term, he is going to have a real problem. What will he do in a second term? What would be his agenda…other than 4 more years of blaming Bush and demonising certain people/groups? He hasn’t said.
"FOUR MORE YEARS.....of class warfare, divisiveness, out-of-control spending, incompetence, and insanity!" is NOT going to be a winning message.
Related Reading:
Democratic Party to White, Working Class Voters: Drop Dead.
Democrats: Fired Up! Ready To Go! Vote Uncommitted 2012!
Role of American Capitalism on Trial
Here's A Secret: Austerity Does Work & Here's The Biggest Example Of It...Ever
Obama's Man In The Mirror: Jimmy Carter
Democratic Party to White, Working Class Voters: Drop Dead.
Democrats: Fired Up! Ready To Go! Vote Uncommitted 2012!
Role of American Capitalism on Trial
Here's A Secret: Austerity Does Work & Here's The Biggest Example Of It...Ever
Obama's Man In The Mirror: Jimmy Carter
None of the Above - Duran Duran
I am I myself alone and realize I never need to use no one
When it comes down to my soul freedom puts my faith in none of the above
There was a time I was so afraid of everything people around me said
And I wanted to hide my face in the shadows
There was a time on a bed of nails I was dreaming the plan up that could not fail
But no power under the sun could pull it together
Can't take this attitude I've got to show now I've got to move on
God knows where I'm going to it's a lonely burning question
I am I myself alone and realize I never need to use no one money power holy roads
Freedom puts my faith in none of the above
If there's a time (if there's a time) that we ever see (ever see)
The nature of life in reality (reality)
Oh I want to be there to kick out the answer
I can't take this attitude I've gotta show now I've got to move on (gotta move on)
God knows where I'm going to it's a lonely burning question
I am I myself alone (all alone) and realize I never need to use no one
Money power holy roads (holy roads) freedom puts my faith in none of the above
I am I myself alone (all alone) I realize I never need to use no one
When it comes down to my soul (to my soul) freedom puts my faith in none of the above
I am I myself alone (on my own alone) and realize I never need to use no one (use no one)
Money power holy roads (holy roads, holy roads, holy roads)
Freedom puts my faith in none of the above
I am I myself alone (myself alone) and realize I never need to use no one
When it comes down to my soul freedom puts my faith in none of the above
None of the above, my faith in none of the above, none of the above
I stand by none of the above, none of the above, I stand by none of the above
None of the above
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