Originally posted by: Frackal
If only some of that energy were put into something positive maybe liberals could win an election on something other than utter suckage of the Republicans
Liberals spent 70 years getting society into a much better place than it was before. Then a bunch of economically disadvantaged people from the Midwest decided that evangelical Christianity could tell them that the fact they lost their family farms, lost their production jobs, and basically had sucky prospects wasn't THEIR fault, and that God would help them restore their lost futures. Those people now support the mega-churches, who funnel their contributions into getting evangelical Republicans elected - to undo the progress of the past 70 years.
The problem is that the Dems can't undo the problems of the American Midwest and South - there are culture values that will take generations to change. I went to school at Purdue in the late '80s (and lived in Indanapolis and Chicago), and you could STILL see the bias against education, esp. higher and graduate education, that existed in much of the population. It's just a remenant of being a post-agricultural society, and it needs to change (just as it needs to change in Harlem and downtown Detroit and elsewhere). That's not to say there aren't MANY brilliant people in the Midwest - it's just a proportion issue.
The Dems and many moderate Republicans know that only consistent investment in world-class education, over many decades, can change a people's future. That strategy has worked in places as disparate is Singapore, India, and Ireland (and prior to unification, Germany). The righter-wing Republicans know that too, but would rather play the religious card and insist that it's all just a values thing...decadent values lead to decreasing incomes, etc. Of course, the mega-churches give a lot more in campaign donations than school teachers...funny that.
So the Dems are just busy trying to preseve the gains of the past 70 years...while it is the neo-cons and Christian Right in unholy alliance, chipping away to bring us back to the middle ages...
Future Shock