3 ms·

Why are you so sure a conservative mindset wouldn’t be more helpful? In practice, it was liberals who enacted heavy sentences on crack usage. California, an e

Why are you so sure a conservative mindset wouldn’t be more helpful? In practice, it was liberals who enacted heavy sentences on crack usage. California, an extremely liberal state, voted in a 72% majority referendum for the three strikes policy. So, I’m just curious why liberals have some sort of lock in the minds of people as being on the “side of the poor”.

frockington 8y ago
I'm not sure the Dems are focused on the poor anymore. One of Trumps main pushes was that he would represent the working class Americans who are working but still struggling. I think the GOP has been targeting the working poor away from the Dems in recent years
- Nasrudith 8y ago
  They are focused on the poor - the decline of unions and lack of traction of economic issues has lead to the drift - or more specifically general refusal to adopt views or stances held which they find unacceptable for other reasons. Typically this is referred to as "voting against their interests" but that depends upon personal priorities be they wise or foolish. Tech workers refusing to work on abuseable projects are technically acting against their interests fiscally. I will try to abstain from judgement here. Also they do have a large portion of the working class - just not definitively over the white part who traditionally bear the name. Perhaps related to their strong hold on minorities that made them not stand out as a distinct bloc. Parts of their other coalition having views at odds with theirs and friction related is not new (see the Hard Hat Riots for one and environmentalists vs industrial workers). Similarly Republicans have long been reaching them on social issues as well - pre civil rights act related inversion even arguably. Regardless of one's moral opinions facing their overtures largely rejected and power diminished why should the democrats try to serve them at the cost of others strategically? They aren't special or numerous enough which makes the political capital better spent elsewhere. Blue-dogs exist and are run where locally favorable but they aren't nationally prominent for a reason.
pmwhite 8y ago
"California, an extremely liberal state, voted in a 72% majority referendum for the three strikes policy." Incorrect. In 1994, when the three strikes legislation passed, CA was a purple state with a moderate Republican governor. It is the anti-immigrant rhetoric around Prop 208 in 1996 that undermined the GOP in the state, by driving the majority of the young and non-white into the arms of the Democrats.
- IanDrake 8y ago
  1994 - mostly blue. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_...

frockington 8y ago

I'm not sure the Dems are focused on the poor anymore. One of Trumps main pushes was that he would represent the working class Americans who are working but still struggling. I think the GOP has been targeting the working poor away from the Dems in recent years

Nasrudith 8y ago
They are focused on the poor - the decline of unions and lack of traction of economic issues has lead to the drift - or more specifically general refusal to adopt views or stances held which they find unacceptable for other reasons. Typically this is referred to as "voting against their interests" but that depends upon personal priorities be they wise or foolish. Tech workers refusing to work on abuseable projects are technically acting against their interests fiscally. I will try to abstain from judgement here. Also they do have a large portion of the working class - just not definitively over the white part who traditionally bear the name. Perhaps related to their strong hold on minorities that made them not stand out as a distinct bloc. Parts of their other coalition having views at odds with theirs and friction related is not new (see the Hard Hat Riots for one and environmentalists vs industrial workers). Similarly Republicans have long been reaching them on social issues as well - pre civil rights act related inversion even arguably. Regardless of one's moral opinions facing their overtures largely rejected and power diminished why should the democrats try to serve them at the cost of others strategically? They aren't special or numerous enough which makes the political capital better spent elsewhere. Blue-dogs exist and are run where locally favorable but they aren't nationally prominent for a reason.

pmwhite 8y ago

"California, an extremely liberal state, voted in a 72% majority referendum for the three strikes policy." Incorrect. In 1994, when the three strikes legislation passed, CA was a purple state with a moderate Republican governor. It is the anti-immigrant rhetoric around Prop 208 in 1996 that undermined the GOP in the state, by driving the majority of the young and non-white into the arms of the Democrats.

IanDrake 8y ago
1994 - mostly blue. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_California https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_...