POLITICAL MUSICAL CHAIRS!

The political parties are realigning once again. As the old Dixiecrat Democrats once left the Dems and moved to the GOP when the Civil Rights law was passed, and as the Black minority moved from its traditional Republican Party affiliation (that began under Republican President Lincoln) to the Democratic Party, we are now again seeing shifting political alliances in our country.

Today’s older and whiter generation continues to benefit greatly from the Democratic Party’s New Deal and Great Society programs like Social Security and Medicare. Yet, bizarrely they have shifted allegiance to the GOP, which advocates elimination of the very social safety-net programs that they depend on to keep them out of the grinding poverty that previously existed for the elderly!

The well educated are shifting from the GOP to the Democratic Party, as are many in the top income brackets, as well as the young Millennial Generation (under 30s) — all favoring a more just society than laissez faire capitalism offers. The new progressive coalition is made up of young people, Hispanics and African Americans, unmarried women, and affluent suburbanites.

Many blue collar workers, for decades aligned with the Democratic Party, are today moving toward the more traditional GOP in frustration with the economic crisis, fear of change, and fear of the country’s shifting racial demographics.

The Hispanic community, despite sharing traditional values with many in the GOP, is aligning with the Democratic Party, due to aggressive and hostile views expressed by many in the Republican Party which the Hispanic community sees as racial bigotry. The political results of the gathering minority strength is unknown, but exit poll and Census data predict that the Democratic Party will become “majority minority” soon after 2020.

So where does all this shifting leave us? Well, the Democratic Party is shaping up to be the party of minorities and the well-educated, while the GOP is now the party of corporations and less educated whites and the religious right.

There’s apparent conflict in the Republican Party: conflicting values and conflicting goals. The religious right and less educated whites have values in conflict with the corporate values of global capitalism and economic preferences for the upper classes.

Democrats seem to have more cohesive values and appear to be slowly moving national issues in their direction: Equal Rights for gays; Movement toward Universal Healthcare; Support for our Social Safteynet; and a national awakening about the impact of Economic Inequality.

So, how’s the political future shaping up for America? For the long run, it looks good for progressive ideas — for the short run … who knows?

So, take heart: even if the Democrats lose the next election, we’re winning on the issues — the progress may seem too incremental for most of us, but it’s happening!