Reply #31: I don't think my cousin will ever be converted [View All]

[jeter]

That wasn't the point of my post. The point was something that I noticed in some of my friends a week ago and the juxtaposition with my cousin who is 10 to 15 years older.

I agree with the post above that the baby boomers were more liberal -as were their parents because of the Depression, New Deal, WW2.

But something changed in the late 60s and 70s. Fear took over. That fear is going away. I was born in the early 70s and many of my generation and those born after are much more optimistic about the future. More libertarian than socialist. But optimistic nonetheless. They are VERY LIBERAL on social issues. Yet my cousin, who is from the same social class, grew up with both parents, went to the same public schools, etc, etc, etc. is more conservative than me and my friends that work and do our thing just like everyone else.

The point is that the country is changing. The fear perpetrated and taken for granted by Nixon, Reagan and Bush is no longer there. Or going away.

P.S. My cousin also lost his job in December and has had a lot of trouble finding a new one.

I wonder if he sees the connection? I doubt it. But I'm not going to try to convince him. He is incouragable (sp??). This is the fatal flaw of the DLC strategy. Their whole strategy is to convince people like my cousin who once was a democrat but became a republican to once again vote democrat. The problem is that HE WON'T VOTE DEMOCRAT. What we should be doing is encouraging young people to support us. Those that are libertarian and have spent a lifetime being told that Democrats are assholes. They agree with us.

Build a new Democratic coalition. Do you see?

P.S.S. There were always young republicans, even in the 1960s. People act as if all young people were liberal back then. Not true. Many of the neocons began their careers and political contacts back during their college days in the 1960s. They just weren't at the rallies.