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One of the perverse realities of American politics since the Southern Strategy is how black voters, unions and groups like Planned Parenthood keep getting lumped into “the Establishment” or “the system” by certain parts of the left. /1
The Southern Strategy moved a lot of white people, and especially white men, into the GOP. A direct result of all that white flight (which took decades) is that the Democratic Party, as an establishment, is disproportionately black- and woman-powered. Never more so than now. /2
And that influence is probably at its greatest and most visible in the primaries, when the base gets to vote amongst themselves.
Meaning, in the primaries, reliable Democratic *voters* are a huge part of the Democratic “establishment”. /3
Meaning, in the primaries, reliable Democratic *voters* are a huge part of the Democratic “establishment”. /3
This is probably a good time to point out that there’s no one The Establishment. There are a lot of establishments, with different amounts and types of power. /4
thenation.com/article/we-kno…
thenation.com/article/we-kno…
Trump is a great example. He spent most of his life outside the political establishment. But he’s always been a rich, bigoted, sexist white guy - the country’s oldest and most powerful establishment. /5
So an “anti-establishment” Democrat could run against a lot of things. Like white male supremacy, or corporate deep pockets. At large, or even specifically within the Democratic Party. /6
And if they were sloppy, or racist, or sexist, an anti-establishment candidate could conflate the Corporate Deep Pockets Establishment with the Disproportionately Black and Female Voters Establishment. /7
A conflated “anti-establishment” message like that would resonate heavily with aggrieved white men on the left, and the women who love them. /8
It could also resonate among left-wing voters that are ignorant of or disinterested in the voting power and preferences of black voters in Democratic primaries, and don’t see the conflation. /9
A primary candidate that lost due to black voters could even convince a lot of white people it was The Establishment’s fault. Because when it comes to the Democratic Party, black voters and “The Establishment” are intertwined in a way that’s ignored by a lot of white people. /10
And all of this is a recipe for leveling accusations of “you rigged the system against us” at the people who the system is actually rigged against. You have white men indirectly accusing women of color of voter suppression and election rigging. /11
The most glaring example of this to me was in 2016, when some people accused the DNC of closing polling stations in Arizona to help Hillary. But the stations were actually closed by the GOP, and the Hispanic voters who were disproportionately affected leaned Hillary. /12
These are all potential (inevitable?) pitfalls when populist language like “anti-establishment” gets aimed at the Democratic Party or other major left-wing groups. Not that they’re above reproach. But that conflation will be lurking as long as the left is less white and male. /13
At the end of the day, this isn’t about any one candidate. This is about white people, and men, and our uncanny ability to use ignorance and entitlement to make ourselves out to be the real victims here. /14
Related thread on how the Southern Strategy affected Democratic candidates and their press coverage. We talk a lot about how the Strategy changed the GOP. But it impacted the Dems just as much.
