Let’s take a look at who showed up for the Democratic Party in 2018:
|
Democratic |
Republican |
Women |
59 |
40 |
Men |
47 |
51 |
White Men |
39 |
60 |
White Women |
49 |
49 |
Black |
90 |
9 |
Latino |
69 |
29 |
Asian |
77 |
23 |
Barely a third of white men are voting Democratic.
We won big in 2018 thanks to unprecedented support from women and people of color. At an even 49-49, white women are the real electoral battleground. (Republicans won them 56-42 in 2014.)
The energy in the party is certainly coming from those groups. Most of the new Resistance groups are run by women, #BlackLivesMatter and the #MeToo movements have become cultural phenomenons.
Meanwhile, white men are whining about not being laid and shooting shit up. Yes, yes, not ALL white men. Definitely not anyone reading this site. Interesting to be on the receiving end of that sort of generalization, huh, white guys? But really, white men are the one group propping up the Republican Party. Without them, conservatism is dead. And they remain receptive to the traitor Donald Trump’s message and Fox News against all evidence, in direct contrast to reality.
What’s that mean? It means for presidential politics, it’s time for a passing of the baton to candidates that look like our party. Not that we have to do anything to make it happen. The party grassroots will deliver on its own. It’s inevitable.
Yes, yes, I’ve heard some of the pushback already. “Aren’t we a color-blind and gender-blind party?” Yes, supposedly. But there’s nothing color- or gender-blind about the long, steady stream of white men that have monopolized the top echelons of the party leadership.
No one bats an eye at the idea of black people or Latinos or women taking a backseat and supporting a white male candidate. But when it’s someone else stepping up to the plate, white men howl as though they’re the victims of centuries of institutionalized oppression and suppression. You get jokers like Michael Avenatti saying that our 2020 nominee “better be a white male.” They can’t fathom a world where they’re not in charge, playing a supporting role instead.
There’s no shame in supporting. Presidential pretenders like Michael Bloomberg, Howard Schultz, and Tom Steyer can be incredibly helpful by funding this new generation of progressive leadership and infrastructure. It’s honorable! But white men don’t like to play supporting roles, do they? It’s not what they’re used to experiencing, or seeing. It doesn’t feed their sense of entitlement, their massive egos, or dreams of having schools and roads named after them.
But the world is changing.
So to the three billionaires above, as well to the nearly two dozen other white men who think they’re running in 2020? The inability to read the current climate, thus concluding that what the party grassroots is really after another white guy, is disqualifying in and of itself.
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For fun, and because you guys love this shit, here’s the people who have taken moves to run.
Obama Admin people: VP Joe Biden, AG Eric Holder, Julian Castro (HUD)
Senators: Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders
Governors: John Hickenlooper (CO), Steve Bullock (MT), Terry McAuliffe (VA), Deval Patrick (MA), Andrew Cuomo (NY)
Congresscritters: John Delaney (MD), Tim Murphy (OH), Seth Moulton (MA), Tulsi Gabbard (HI)
Mayors: Michael Bloomberg (NYC), Eric Garcetti (Los Angeles), Mitch Landrieu (New Orleans),
Other Billionaires: Tom Steyer (Hedge fund), Howard Schultz (Starbucks)
Assholes: Michael Avenatti (still!)
Random other people: Richard Ojeda (WV)
Some have said they’re not running (Gillibrand and Cuomo, for example). That’s never stopped anyone from actually running before. Also, there will be more candidates before this list gets culled. Some of these people will realize their dreams are ridiculous. Others will want to jump in. This list will be a moving target for some time.
And in case you’re wondering, out of those 26, 16 are white men. They won’t be in the winner’s circe.