Somebody asked if I could succinctly describe democratic base voters. I did, but they didn’t like the answer, so they took a powder. Good riddance. That’s fine, but it is important to define terms so for everyone knows what I am talking about when I correctly observe that “the Democratic Party has spent the last 27 years abusing, berating and doing everything it can to drive the enthusiasm OUT of its base voters.” So here is some “politics 101” for anybody who needs it.
First of all, “base voter” whether Democratic or Republican is a behavior, not a demographic. Base voters don’t live in a certain zip code. Political scientist define base voters as voters who have a high degree of political participation and a strong connection to the espoused values of a political party. Therefor they are more likely to 1) show up on Election Day and 2) vote the “straight ticket.” Political scientist further describe “base voters” as being more interested in strengthen a party’s chances of gaining a majority and less interested in merits of individual candidates.
Notice I said that base voters have a strong connection to “espoused values” of a political party. I did not say they have a strong connection to the “enacted values” because this is where the abuse comes in. The Democratic Party has made an art out of failure, and that failure tracks directly to a wide gap between the party’s espoused and enacted values.
If I feel like it I’ll get into “espoused values” vs “enacted values” tomorrow. Stay tuned, or don’t.
