US Democrats highlight diversity, but face gap with white men

[webfact]

Democrats highlight diversity, but face gap with white men
By BILL BARROW

ATLANTA (AP) — The Democratic National Convention lineup of speakers has highlighted an increasingly diverse country that could soon elect the first female president to succeed its first black chief executive.

Yet the stream of women, African-Americans, Latinos, gay Americans — from U.S. senators and celebrities to activists and, on Thursday, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton herself — also serves as a reminder of Democrats' struggles to connect with most heterosexual white men.

"It's just sad," says Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a Democratic strategist turned Donald Trump supporter who says his party "has abandoned" culturally conservative white men like himself.

Even Vice President Joe Biden offered a noteworthy, if more muted assessment Wednesday. Democrats have "done the right thing" for white working-class voters, he said on MSNBC, but the party hasn't "spoken to them."

It's a long-developing gap that bolsters Republican control of Congress and most statehouses. It could play into the hands of Republican Trump, whose path to victory depends on whites drawn to his blistering critiques of elitism and "political correctness" in the America of Clinton and Barack Obama.

White men still make up about a third of the typical presidential electorate and will be crucial to Trump's fortunes in Rust Belt states that have seen a declining middle class. They also could tip the balance in battlegrounds like Virginia and Florida, states Obama won twice.

Saunders says both parties play "wedge and identity politics" on guns, gay rights and other issues.

Republicans emphasized "law and order" at their Cleveland convention, while Democrats on Tuesday welcomed "Mothers of the Movement," black moms whose sons died at the hands of police. Republicans heard National Rifle Association leaders; Democrats are featuring families of gun violence victims.

Democratic pollster Mark Mellman described "a cultural gap," with both parties playing to their advantages. But Saunders says Trump taps into a "legitimate" frustration acute among small-town and rural white men whose fathers and grandfathers once helped elect Democrats.

"They see no opportunity, no hope," continued Saunders, who advised John Edwards' presidential campaigns and Jim Webb's brief 2016 bid. "Then they see Democrats up there talking about diversity and trends and what we'll be like in 40 years. This country needs help now."

Democrats insist they understand the sentiment.

Former President Bill Clinton, speaking Tuesday on his wife's behalf, told of campaigning this year in West Virginia — a now heavily Republican state that Clinton won twice in the 1990s — in front of coal miners who blame job losses on Democrats' policies.

"Hillary sent me to tell you that if you really think you can get the economy back you had 50 years ago ... vote for whoever you want to," the 42nd president recalled telling miners. "But if she wins, she is coming back for you to take you along on the ride to America's future."

The white Pittsburgh police chief, Cameron McLay, told Democratic delegates that police and their communities can work together. The top organized labor leader, Richard Trumka, who is white, made the traditional appeal that Democrats are the party of workers.

Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, will speak Wednesday, and aides note he is well-regarded across his state, including in rural, Republican pockets. Kaine speaks effusively of his family and Catholic faith.

Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, said at a convention lunch sponsored by the Wall Street Journal that Clinton will address working-class issues in her speech.

In 2012, exit polls conducted for the Associated Press and television networks showed Republican Mitt Romney won 62 percent of white men to Obama's 35 percent. Measured another way, white men made up less than quarter of Obama's national vote, compared to about 44 percent of Romney's total.

Current polls suggest a more pronounced gap this year, a trends evident on the ground.

In St. Clairsville, Ohio, not far from where both Clintons campaigned this spring, barber shop owner Kent Jenewein estimated that "more than 90 percent" of his clients, nearly all white men, back Trump — in a county Obama won in 2008. Clinton, Jenewein said, "doesn't understand us."

Mellman, the pollster, says Democrats can make "marginal gains" among non-urban whites, including men, in the same way Republicans are seeking marginal upticks in support from African-Americans and Latinos. Trump could also drive up his support among white men only to see Clinton buoyed with better support than Obama had from white Republican women who dislike Trump.

Clinton insisted during the primaries that she won't overlook white men. "Let's be honest," she said in her own Appalachia campaign stop. "Some (of you) find it hard to think about voting for any Democrats. ... But I'm going to keep trying to convince people otherwise."

___

Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report from Philadelphia.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-28

[Usernames]

"Hillary sent me to tell you that if you really think you can get the economy back you had 50 years ago ... vote for whoever you want to," the 42nd president recalled telling miners. "But if she wins, she is coming back for you to take you along on the ride to America's future."

Yes, this is true. The Clintons will take you for a ride.

[NovaBlue05]

If only those pesky white men would just go away.......we would have such a utopia!

[OMGImInPattaya]

That's a bit ironic knowing that when you combine all colours you get white light.

[NovaBlue05]

I assume they don't want to eliminate ALL the white men. Just the ones with critical thinking skills

[boomerangutang]

I guess I'm a white man, though I get a lot of sun. If you put my arm next to a Thai lady's arm, mine will likely be darker - certainly a lot hairier.

What are the stats on hairy armed people? Are most going to vote for Trump or for HRC? Some of my US friends are declaring they'll vote for Green Party candidate Stein. I think their arms are hairier than average.

[NovaBlue05]

I guess I'm a white man, though I get a lot of sun. If you put my arm next to a Thai lady's arm, mine will likely be darker - certainly a lot hairier.

What are the stats on hairy armed people? Are most going to vote for Trump or for HRC? Some of my US friends are declaring they'll vote for Green Party candidate Stein. I think their arms are hairier than average.

Don't worry Boomer. You would be their perfect white guy member

Edited July 28, 2016 by NovaBlue05

[OMGImInPattaya]

I guess I'm a white man, though I get a lot of sun. If you put my arm next to a Thai lady's arm, mine will likely be darker - certainly a lot hairier.

What are the stats on hairy armed people? Are most going to vote for Trump or for HRC? Some of my US friends are declaring they'll vote for Green Party candidate Stein. I think their arms are hairier than average.

I can certainly think of a couple places where the average female Stein voter is hairier than average

[Pinot]

If only those pesky white men would just go away.......we would have such a utopia!

I wouldn't go that far. The Democrats are an inclusive bunch. The pesky white men can stay. We want the reactionary, paranoid and delusional, jumping at the shadows of Muslim terrorists, gay activists and angry black people it sees around every corner to go away. The low-info, bury the gold in the yard, guns and ammo stockpiling wingnuts who are the base of the Republican party to go away.

Trump is the culmination of years of the party tolerating and even encouraging these sorts of fears and a fearful bunch they are.

[Pinot]

I guess I'm a white man, though I get a lot of sun. If you put my arm next to a Thai lady's arm, mine will likely be darker - certainly a lot hairier.

What are the stats on hairy armed people? Are most going to vote for Trump or for HRC? Some of my US friends are declaring they'll vote for Green Party candidate Stein. I think their arms are hairier than average.

I can certainly think of a couple places where the average female Stein voter is hairier than average

Stein voter? Sorry, I have a problem understanding wingnut humor. It's probably a howler.

[Pinot]

I assume they don't want to eliminate ALL the white men. Just the ones with critical thinking skills

Actually just the opposite, the ones who don't watch Fox News.

[NovaBlue05]

I guess if things go totally tits up for white men in the world, I can try going in drag as Rachel Dolezal and stay undercover

[Buba Ho Tep]

This old white guy is voting for that hottie Jill Stein. "Give me some sugar baby!"

[boomerangutang]

Many folks have gotten their genomes typed. I recall seeing a guy with dark brown skin being typed as predominantly European. He was aghast. Similarly, many people with lighter skin have a predominance of 'African' genes. I've hung out with tuk tuk drivers in Sri Lanka (treated them all to dinner one night) who were nearly as dark as an 8 ball. There are so many variations of gene types, that it's almost getting silly to try to type-cast someone. In 50 years, people will read the history of race type-casting we're going through now, and grin about it, like we grin when we see old TV/magazine ads of doctors recommending cigg brands, or crank-start cars, or women with corsets and whale-bone skirts.

[micmichd]

Many folks have gotten their genomes typed. I recall seeing a guy with dark brown skin being typed as predominantly European. He was aghast. Similarly, many people with lighter skin have a predominance of 'African' genes. I've hung out with tuk tuk drivers in Sri Lanka (treated them all to dinner one night) who were nearly as dark as an 8 ball. There are so many variations of gene types, that it's almost getting silly to try to type-cast someone. In 50 years, people will read the history of race type-casting we're going through now, and grin about it, like we grin when we see old TV/magazine ads of doctors recommending cigg brands, or crank-start cars, or women with corsets and whale-bone skirts.

So, here's someone with Asian genes, someone who went home

[NovaBlue05]

Many folks have gotten their genomes typed. I recall seeing a guy with dark brown skin being typed as predominantly European. He was aghast. Similarly, many people with lighter skin have a predominance of 'African' genes. I've hung out with tuk tuk drivers in Sri Lanka (treated them all to dinner one night) who were nearly as dark as an 8 ball. There are so many variations of gene types, that it's almost getting silly to try to type-cast someone. In 50 years, people will read the history of race type-casting we're going through now, and grin about it, like we grin when we see old TV/magazine ads of doctors recommending cigg brands, or crank-start cars, or women with corsets and whale-bone skirts.

Don't disagree but tell that to all the entities making $billions keeping these distinctions alive.

[Scotwight]

I assume they don't want to eliminate ALL the white men. Just the ones with critical thinking skills

Actually just the opposite, the ones who don't watch Fox News.

Reading the news today I don't think anyone is watching Fox News anymore. Maybe Fox attacking Trump was not such a good idea?

[OMGImInPattaya]

I guess I'm a white man, though I get a lot of sun. If you put my arm next to a Thai lady's arm, mine will likely be darker - certainly a lot hairier.

What are the stats on hairy armed people? Are most going to vote for Trump or for HRC? Some of my US friends are declaring they'll vote for Green Party candidate Stein. I think their arms are hairier than average.

I can certainly think of a couple places where the average female Stein voter is hairier than average

Stein voter? Sorry, I have a problem understanding wingnut humor. It's probably a howler.

Yes, a very politically incorrect joke so it would completely bypass the neural circuits of your average social-justice warrior. Actually it's a good thing for you as you had no need to retreat to the nearest safe-space ??

[boomerangutang]

I've been enjoying watching a YouTube on-going series hosted by "Young Turks". It's a group of 30-something Americans (one Brit, one woman), discussing recent politics with no holds barred. They're liberals, so Trump fans would hate their banter. The host is named Cenk (pronounced 'chenk'). He's a Turk-American, hence the name of the show. I like their passion and insight. Check it out.

here's a sample:

[linksman00]

"Hillary sent me to tell you that if you really think you can get the economy back you had 50 years ago ... vote for whoever you want to," the 42nd president recalled telling miners. "But if she wins, she is coming back for you to take you along on the ride to America's future."

Yes, this is true. The Clintons will take you for a ride.

If Hillary were to get in the White House she would take us all for a ride through the house of horrors, calm down Bill that was the house of horrors not a whorehouse In all seriousness Hillary has lost the hiring hall union vote (carpenters, electricians, laborers, ironworkers ect.) and given the pathetic attempt to sway the Bernie folks at the convention, I would venture to guess that she has lost most of them as well. Those big city Democrat machine bosses had better get all the Blacks and Hispanics out to the polls as well as the usual push to register all the deceased at the local cemeteries, if they want to have any chance at getting Hillary elected