By Charles Brooks
While
the 2014 elections showed Democrats their difficulties in defeating Republicans,
the elections also revealed the problem the Democratic Party has in appealing
to their white constituents. The Democrats now find themselves in a very precarious
position as they find a way to put together a message that resonates with the
white as well as the black voter. Let’s consider for a moment the 2014 exit poll, particularly the questions about race relations. For example, 40% said race relations in the country had stayed about the same in the
last few years. 38% said they had gotten worse while 20% said they’ve gotten
better. Certainly no surprise here but let’s consider remarks made by the Congressional
Black Caucus Chairperson, Marcia Fudge
(D-OH) when she stated that Democrats lost the white Southerners due in part to racism. “Democrats
lost Senate control because we failed to mobilize young voters across racial
and regional spectrums. We failed to persuade Southern voters to hold true to
core Democratic values. We lost because the Hispanic community was
insufficiently motivated. We lost because of ideological differences within the
Democratic Party and with our Administration. We lost because our party has, to
some extent, lost white Southerners due in part to the race of our President.
We lost because the Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United and McCutcheon allowed a select few to subvert
the political process with secret, unlimited money. We lost because of
gerrymandering in our state redistricting processes. We lost because of our
continuing problem with a clear and compelling message that would encourage
voters to stay with us. Let the talking
heads do what they do best: talk. But let’s be very clear in our analyses of
the 2014 midterm elections. African Americans showed up. So don’t blame us! A review of the
2014 exit poll data verifies Rep. Fudge’s statement as the data indicates that
while voter turnout for Hispanics and Blacks increased, the voter turnout for
Whites went down, and overall turnout was quite low.
By Charles Brooks
The nation’s
political landscape is remarkably more Republican now with their decisive
victories a couple of weeks ago during the 2014 elections. Just in case you
forgot – not only did Democrats lose on the national level but they suffered
losses on the state level as well. For example, Democrats lost their only
majority in the US Congress – in the Senate and they lost seats in the House of
Representatives. Now bear in mind Democrats lost seats in state legislatures
all across the country and a few key governorships in Democratic Party
territory – like in Illinois, Massachusetts, and the biggest surprise in
Maryland. This is what the National
Conference of State Legislature had to say: “It appears that Republicans will have a net
gain of between 300 and 350 seats and control over 4,100 of the nation’s 7,383
legislative seats. That is their highest number of legislators since 1920.
Republicans gained seats in every region of the country and in all but about a
dozen legislative chambers that were up this year. It appears that Republicans
will have a net gain of between 300 and 350 seats and control over 4,100 of the
nation’s 7,383 legislative seats. That is their highest number of legislators
since 1920. Republicans gained seats in every region of the country and in all
but about a dozen legislative chambers that were up this year.” So what does that mean
– what does the current political landscape look like – Republicans now control
23 out of 50 state governments, that means both chambers of the state legislature
and the Governor are all
Republican. They are Republican majorities in 30 state
legislatures as well as in 68 legislative chambers (one of the two houses that
typically makes up state government). Lastly, there are 31 Republican
governors sitting in state capitols across the country. Clearly the 2014 elections
has empowered the Republicans as the lines of battle are redrawn...at least until
the 2016 elections. You can already sense the tension quickly building as President Obama spoke of his intention to take executive action to address immigration reform
while Republicans counter by suing the president over the Affordable Care Act. The
first of many battles to come over the next two years...
