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2008 Election Map, Proportional To Electoral Votes (via)
Keep it up guys.
McCain won the South in November, but Obama swept the rest of the country by an even bigger margin. The same pattern holds now for House and Senate seats. Republicans may continue to win governorships in Democratic-leaning states, but in congressional and presidential elections the geographic divides are sizable.
Brownstein reeled off a list of statistics that all arrived at the same place: The South now accounts for a greater share of Republican strength than at virtually any time since the party’s founding. That base is too narrow, as even Republicans know.
Demographically, the forces at work have chipped away at what was once a GOP-leaning majority in the country. The most important is minorities’ rising share of the vote. Whites accounted for 76 percent of the overall electorate last November, down from 85 percent in 1988.
In the last election, there were more than 2 million additional African American voters, about 2 million more Hispanic voters and about a million more Asian American voters. All are groups in which Obama increased the Democratic share of the vote over 2004. Frey estimated that minority voters in nine states made the difference in Obama’s victory margin.
Considering the conservative-wide freakout over Obama’s election and the racially tinged attacks on Judge Sotomayor, the Republicans haven’t learned a thing from the last 10 years. There is always the possibility of Democratic complacency on these issues, and we saw some of that in 2004 when Kerry neglected the black vote until the very end, but somehow I think the current leader of the Democratic party will not make a similar lapse. Call it a hunch based on what he sees in front of the mirror every day.
The Republican party could again become a majority party, but the path for them would have to include being more inclusive to single women, blacks, hispanics, and gays. The issue of course is that strategy is equally likely to turn off large parts of their elderly white male base, as well as the xenophobic white males who are the elected officials on the Republican side.
And still my state is painted red. Eight years of the most destructive President ever. Republican party in shambles and on the wrong side of every damned issue. And still my state is painted red. Tennessee is painted red. How pathetic is that? Okay, don’t answer.
Yeah, Tennessee’s got a longgggggg way to go:
The county containing Nashville is BLUE? Man…
What’s funny is that there are a few credible Republicans telling people that without attracting non-white male voters, the party is screwed.
And these guys are promptly shouted down by the usual suspects.
Dems had to get rid of a lot of dead weight (i.e., Clinton cronies) before the party could be revitalized. I’m honestly not sure if the GOP is capable of getting rid of those it needs to and moving forward.
OW: …and we saw some of that in 2004 when Kerry neglected the black vote until the very end, but somehow I think the current leader of the Democratic party will make a similar lapse.
Whoops.
Fixed.