Thread by @TheValuesVoter

You cannot understand the psychology of Trumpism or of the modern Republican Party without understanding the deep and pervasive fear of demographic change among some whites in America.

They go hand in hand.

And, closely coupled with it is the legacy of the “Southern Strategy” and the strategic decisions that the Republican Party has made over the last five and a half decades, targeting mostly white voters while ignoring or showing active hostility to many other groups.

Any student or American history knows that in the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras, a lot of the most xenophobic and racist rhetoric and policies spoken and enacted during those times came from southern Democrats.

What happened to those southern Democrats? Over the course of several decades, those old segregationist Democrats - and those who think like them, even if just under a thin facade - found homes in the GOP. And some of them found leadership positions in it.

So over the course of decades, intentionally and perhaps also subconsciously, the GOP tried really hard to win white voters, which they did and still do. But did not carry out serious and sustained efforts to reach out to nonwhite voters.

And this lack of outreach was combined with having prominent members who seemed to have quite open hostility to the “others.”

While prior to Trump, the GOP was led by many decent men who openly condemned racial hostility, it included a growing rank and file who embraced it.

Now this GOP model works in terms of winning elections when America is 85% white.

It does NOT work when America is 65-70% white.

I’ve mentioned this before, but in most states in recent elections, if the GOP doesn’t win white voters by double digits (higher level of double digits in states that are very diverse), it has lost the states.

https://twitter.com/TheValuesVoter/status/1392939844129673220

It’s pretty hard to simultaneously have a party that is home to a bunch of people who oppose anti-lynching legislation and anti-hate crimes legislation and simultaneously win white voters, many of whom are friends and family of the affected groups, by double digit margins.

The old model which the GOP used since the mid-sixties worked for the old demographic model of America. Aim for the wedge issues that capitalize on deep-seated divisions. Say the “N” word without saying it. Lee Atwater style.

But it doesn’t work today. Not in an America where that is not only more diverse, but, where suburban women are totally fine with Trump’s suggestion that Corey Booker might be moving next door.

And the other variable in understanding Trumpism in particular are the issues of entitlement and victimhood.

“I’m an American. I’m SUPPOSED to have a nice job.” Never mind the fact that hard working people all over the world are competing for those same jobs.

“My ancestors were here in this country before anyone else. We’re all citizens. But I should be a a citizen plus. Why do these people live better than me?” Never mind the fact that that Constitution, the thing everybody said they believed in not long ago, says everybody’s equal.

And the victimhood. If I don’t have the things I think I’m entitled to, that means it’s somebody’s fault. Somebody is robbing me. Somebody is taking from me something that, by birthright, I’m entitled to.

So two things underlie all the mess we see today:

- The GOP painted itself into a demographic corner. Like a shortsighted road paver who suddenly realizes he trapped himself in a cul-de-sac, the GOP is thinking “Crap! What are we going to do NOW???”

And the “Party of Personal Responsibility” now includes as many people who play the victim card as anybody it has ever criticized.

* My grammatical errors occur most often when I’m attempting to multitask (not my strong suit) and/or when I’m trying to reword a tweet but don’t stop to re-read.

Me, looking at Twitter, holding “Will Work for Edit Button” sign.