571 Where now Democrats?

Watching some of the election rehashes on c-span, I'm thinking there are some who just don't get it--like the woman raging about various "irregularities" like long lines, shortage of machines, requests for ID, provisional ballots, and malfunctioning equipment. Well, here in Franklin County, that happened mostly in the suburban, affluent areas which had experienced the largest turnout, but don't let the facts confuse you. She wants to make it an issue of minority disenfranchisement--it won't fly.

But the Democrats need to address their success. Yes, the success they've had over the years with various programs to get more minorities and poor into jobs, college and office. They've been so successful (I know since I was a Democrat), there have been huge shifts in the demographics. People in this country don't permanently reside in an economic percentile. I've been 4 out of the 5 myself. Someone needs to continue to concentrate on the newest citizens, on the minorities, and on the fringe beliefs, or we really will have disenfranchisement. If the Democrats stop doing that because the numbers aren't there to get them elected to power, then none of it meant anything. And let's hope they jettison their left wing fanatics and anarchist nutsoes--they don't represent at all the majority of the Democrats, but they get into the news way too often.

In the last decade, the programs promoted by Democrats seem to encourage keeping the poor and minorities stuck where they are by never letting them break out, always remaining dependent on the gov't. Like lock step for abortion rights but not supporting abstinence programs, or fighting school choice for poor people. If Bill Clinton wants a legacy, let him look to welfare reform, which his party didn't want, but which happened on his watch. When people break out, they may change parties, unless their immediate jobs depend on party affiliation (unions, universities, civil service, etc.).

Also, there have been huge successes in the environment. Would I own a summer home on Lake Erie if Republicans had been pushing changes in pollution? Hardly. However, you can only up the ante so far before people begin to see this is never going to stop until someone brings the economy to a halt, or cigaretts become illegal to smoke anywhere.

I've read some pretty specious research that Democrats aborted their future voters (abortion rate is higher in blue counties), but I think it is more likely that they've helped their constituency to leave the party through economic and social advancement.

The panel I'm watching--at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute--consists of E.J. Dionne of Washington Post, Melinda Henneberger of Newsweek and a Republican pollster and a Democrat pollster. Ms. Henneberger can barely contain her dislike for Bush, even as she says Democrats need to be less condescending toward middle-America. Dionne, who appears to be the moderator, is doing a good job of being fair and keeping his biases to himself.