Liberty in America
columnist: rtbohan

Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
The White Male Vote and the Democratic Party

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During this primary season, st least in the late stages, interest has focused on the white male vote. Here is a fact to consider.

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by rtbohan
(Libertarian)
Thursday, May 8, 2008

During the late stages of this campaign season a lot of attention has been focused on the white male voter. Being a white male myself, I am flattered. But, despite what women say, not all men are alike. And here is an item that all of the emphasis this year overlooks: The Democratic has only twice in its history since the Civil War, gotten a majority of the white Protestant vote.

Of course the Democratic Party won fourteen presidential elections during that period, and in seven its candidate received a majority of the popular, as well as the electoral vote.  But only Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 and Lyndon Johnson in 1964 included white Protestants among the demographic groups they carried.

The Republican Party has won more elections, but in many of the elections they. like the Democrats, did not win a majority of the popular vote. As long as there is majority of the electoralvote, it is not necessary to receive a majority, or even a plurality, of the popular vote.  By the way, for all the hoopla over the eleciton of 2000, neither George Bush nor Al Gore got a majority of the popular vote.Geoge Bush won the election because he won a pluarlity in enough states to get a majority in the electoral college.  That is how the Constitution says a presidential election ought to be decided.

The Democrats elect Presidents without getting a majority (and sometimes a plurality) of the white Protestant vote.  They generally do get a majority of the black Protestant vote and the white Jrewish and Catholic vote to make up the difference.

The concentration on the white voter and particularly the small town white voter is part of the policy of divide and conquer which the Clinton campaign this year, as in prior campaigns involving a Clinton, has relied upon.  Once it was clear that Senator Clinton was not going to be given the nomination simply because of her name and her fund raising ability, the campaign announced that Senator Obama would not get the white vote.  After he won Iowa, it was announced that he could not win the white women's vote.  Then it was the black women's vote, until South Carolina.  Then it was white men, until Obama won ten straight victories.  Now it is white men from small towns.

Either Democratic candidate, and any Republican candidate, will win some of the votes from white men from small towns.  They will also have some vote against them.  Hillary is grasping at straws, trying to talk of voting groups rather than individual voters who are part of more than one group.  The press is buying the story, as they do all stories put out by the Clintons, and they can always find a small town whate man to give them a quote proving it is true.  It is like the old Coke-Pepsi taste tests: if you want to be on t.v., you must make the right choice.

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2008 rtbohan, all rights reserved.
Published: Thursday, May 8, 2008
Last modified: Thursday, May 8, 2008

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