Kevin's post on the economic appeal of Democrats makes some points that should get wider play. Responding to the current argument that the South votes against their economic self-interest when pulling the lever for Republicans, Kevin asks what, exactly, we're giving them that makes voting right such a flagrant contradiction to their self-interest.
Good point.
As he notes, Democrats don't promise much of anything in the immediate term. Drug reimportation from Canada, maybe, A generalized economic view that's more centered on helping the poor, certainly. But the poor vote for us! It's at $23,000 a year that whites start voting Republican. Those folks don't think they're poor, they think they're middle class. And they further think that the Democratic vantage point on helping the poor is probably code for more money to indigent blacks. At least Republicans have tax cuts.
Part of the problem is that there's not much left for Democrats to promise. Better unemployment insurance, sure, but we already gave you Social Security, Medicare, the minimum wage, etc. Indeed, the only thing left to promise, really, is health care, and we're afraid to do that unless it comes in a form so incomprehensible that it's protected against attack (which was really what Kerry's plan did, which doesn't take away from the fact that it was a very good plan). So Democrats are going to have to start thinking this through. If we want to see whether or not voters will chase their self-interest, it's time to give them something to chase. What that will be, however, is an excellent question.
