The New Democratic Party Base

When I was born (into the white working class), the base of the Democratic party was white working men. That's no longer the case. Much of that base has shifted to Reagan/Trump. The election of President Obama signaled what the new base would be, but Obama left the leadership of the Democrats in the hands of the Bill Clinton Centrists. They lost to Trump, which wasn't easy.  

The change among Democratic voters can be seen in a few statistics  In 1994 only 25% of the party called themselves liberal. 45% called themselves moderate. That was not the party of FDR or LBJ.

Today 51% of Democratic voters call themselves liberals, while 34% call themselves moderates. The percentage of Democratic liberals has doubled. The base has changed.

That shift has been in the works for a while. It was a main reason Obama defeated Hillary in the primaries. 

In the Bernie-Hillary contests, the liberals divided. Many backed the independent socialist on the issues, but a good number backed Hillary. For these liberals electing a competent woman was a civil rights issue, although some Hillary supporters said they preferred Bernie's platform. (If she had adopted Bernie's platform, as Kamela Harris and others are doing today, Hillary would have pleased the base and won.) 

Today the old party leadership, often good vote counters, is taking a few steps to the left and preparing to age out of power. The next round of leaders are likely to cater to their base of voters, which consists of people of color, educated women, young lefties with a New Deal-like view of socialism, gays, environmentalists, unions, students unable to afford college, etc. (Of course, Wall Street will still be working some of its magic back stage.)