The Withering of the Democratic Party

Some traditional supporters of the Democratic party seem to have had quite enough.

Perhaps it's just a matter of too much being promised to too many people during the last Presidential campaign but it looks as though reliable Democratic votes are beginning to jump ship.

After the mid-terms, I commented on this very salient fact: The Republicans received their highest percentage of gay votes ever! So disgusted were homosexuals with Democratic dithering and ineffectiveness on civil rights issues that some chose to throw their support behind an alternate party that actually hates them. Hey: at least they'll know where they stand. And if the Democrats can't deliver on a single promise towards them, why blindly throw them their support?

It appears as though the next group to move away from the Democratic tent may be Latinos.

Again, this is a group that's simply tired of promises. Rep. Luis Gutierrez has drawn a line on the DREAM Act. A bill that seems to me a rather mild and sensible piece of immigration reform. If it can't be pushed through, Gutierrez has made it clear that he'll have to treat the larger interests of the Democratic party as not necessarily identical to those of his constituents:

“We need to decouple the movement for comprehensive immigration reform and justice for immigrants from the legislative process and from the Democratic Party process,” Gutiérrez says. “They are too linked.”

“When black people in this country decided they were going to fight for civil rights and for voting rights, they didn’t ask if the majority leader was with them and when they were going to tee up the bill. They said, ‘We’re sitting where we need to sit on the bus! We’re integrating this counter! We’re going to march!'”

Gutiérrez is pacing around the room and his voice is rising. “Their actions propelled the nation. It’s the way changes are made. Look at John F. Kennedy—he was president. Martin Luther King, I don’t think he was real concerned whether he was going to reelected in 1964.”

I think this is a good thing. Both for the groups challenging the Democratic party, and for the Democrats themselves. I believe a party is always stronger when it's held to account. Otherwise, it's just a meaningless collection of platitudes.