General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The manufactured outrage that purports to be legitimate criticism of Hillary is pathetic [View all]wyldwolf
(43,867 posts)"Women voters, African American voters, Hispanic and Latino voters, teachers and other union voters are the base of the Democratic Party. Have been for decades.
We are what you'd call the "activist base," but we ain't the base. The true base of the Democratic Party outnumbers us 10-1, but even if they didn't, the party wouldn't cater to us. Why? Because we are very nearly impossible to hold together as a coalition. We are, for the most part, the purists, and we bolt when we get disappointed. The aforementioned groups are far easier to hold together, they are far more dependable as Democratic voters, and thus are the base of the party.
This probably won't be a popular statement here, but so be it. I've seen ten dozen posts warning the Democratic Party about "pissing off the base," meaning progressives and serious liberals, but that ain't the base of the party.
I'm not saying we're wrong - on Afghanistan, bank bailouts, health care "reform" and many other issues, we're exactly goddam right - but we are not the base of the party."
- William Rivers Pitt
Long version