The Democratic Party used to have major support in large parts of the West where prairie populism once flourished, but are quickly becoming endangered. It’s the same old same old. The Democrats have mostly turned away from their traditional base, becoming mostly urban, viewing those who live in the country as unimportant and basically hicks. Say what you will about Republicans but they don’t marginalize those in rural areas. In my view, Romney is such a weak candidate that Obama got lucky. But the Democrats are becoming a bi-coastal party. Sooner or later this will catch up with them.
Why has this occurred? One problem, notes former Daschle top economic aide Paul Batcheller, lies with the “nationalization” of the Democratic Party—and its transformation from an alliance of geographic diverse regions to a compendium of narrow special-interest groups, so that under Obama, the Democratic Party has essentially become the expression of urban-dwellers, greens and minorities, along with public employees.