CIVIL DISTINCTIONS Between Parties

‘civil’ distinctions
conservatives want to conserve them,
liberals want to minimize them


gender
conservatives believe traditionally:
that the genders are equal
but essentially different,
and if the woman isn't in the home,
it soon isn't a home, or a family;
liberals believe the genders
should be treated as similarly as possible

race
conservatives believe traditionally,
in the ‘melting pot’ idea of Americanism:
that true Americans,
whatever their ethnic heritage,
live an "American way" defined by
those who founded the United States,
in essentials all of us should share,
essentials setting America apart;
liberals tend to believe in the ‘stew’ idea:
that ethnic outcomes should be equal
but ethnic identities retained

religion
conservatives believe traditionally:
that society should promote religion,
that there is moral ‘good’ and moral ‘bad’,
and that what’s ‘immoral’ can be punished;
liberals tend to believe
religion is your own business,
and ‘where there is no victim,
there is no crime’

FIRST OF MANY TRUTHS

SO WHY ARE THERE
MORE DEMOCRATS
THAN REPUBLICANS?

Because most people
decide their party preference
instinctively not intellectually,
often quite unconsciously:

- according to family preference;

- itself initially decided by ethnicity
(Americans of white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant heritage, or who identify with that heritage, tend
to be Republicans; Americans who aren't white, or aren't Protestant, or aren't Anglo-Saxon, tend to be Democrats: so as America gradually 'feels' less and less WASP, it gets more and more Democratic);

- and/or by socio-economic status
(Americans who are or expect to be 'rich'
tend to be Republicans, and Americans who don't
tend to be Democrats ... so, again, resulting in
more Democrats than Republicans)


SO WHY DO REPUBLICANS
OFTEN WIN ELECATIONS?

Because

[1] people at lower educational and income levels are less likely to vote;

[2] people in the majority affiliation
tend to adopt it less from conviction
than just to conform,
and therefore take it less seriously;

and
[3] most Democratic leaders are liberals,
but most Democratic voters aren't
[then why are they Democrats?
See previous transparency]


If average Americans aren't liberals,
what are they?
Though they may never have even heard
the term, they're
populists

that is, they want clear, simple rules
favoring average people
on both issues of politics:
so they seem conservative on morality,
and liberal on economics

Increasingly, however, upper-income
Americans aren't conservatives.
Whether they realize it or not, they're
libertarians,

that is, they don't want government telling individuals how to live their private lives
or telling corporations how to function,
making them seem liberal on morality,
and conservative on economics
SO HOW DOES THIS
SHAPE PARTY STRATEGY
AS WE ENTER CYCLE 5?

Up to the '90s, if the Republicans
could focus an election on moral issues
('God and country'), they could win it.

And if the Democrats could focus an election on the economy, they would win.

But the libertarian trend among
upper-income Americans
changes this equation.
Now, Republican hammering
on 'God and country' tends to
turn off as many upper-income voters
as it attracts average-income voters,
while Democratic emphasis
on the economy only does the reverse.
Resulting temptation for the Democrats:
go easy on both the issues.