"Merlot Democrats" is an analytical designation invented by BELCHER

[Carolab]

NEW YORK -- The Democratic National Committee has minted a catchy new phrase for some of its most faithful voters: merlot Democrats.

The phrase is intended to encompass Democratic voters who are affluent and secular in their cultural values, and not particularly anxious about "pocketbook" issues.

{snip}

Mention such criticism to the man who coined the phrase, DNC pollster Cornell Belcher, and he waves a yellow flag of caution. He said he never intended the merlot designation to apply exclusively to high-end Democrats.

"Merlot is something I made up late one night," Belcher said. "I don't want to get too caught up in the cuteness of the name."

Belcher said the point of his analysis was to examine how the Democrats could better appeal to a different, key group of voters: so-called faith-based Americans who make up a majority of the electorate. "A large segment of Americans are faith voters, who make sense of a great deal of their lives through the prism of religion," Belcher said.

As for merlot lovers? Belcher found that one-third possess postgraduate degrees and they rate concern about the federal deficit as a top-three issue. And perhaps like the grape itself, they tend to mature faster and are softer in texture (as described by http://www.cellarnotes.net ).

(entire article at link)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101700682.html?nav=rss_politics

[jaysunb]

1. Gee...

not only do I love Merlot, I drive a Volvo too. Hmmmmmm :evilgrin:

[NVMojo]

2. oh, jeez! I hate merlot and it's been years since I've worn Birkenstocks

[Carolab]

4. It's not LITERAL. It's ANALYTICAL. See? n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

43. Analytical?

It explains nothing. Because when you say "what do you think of when you hear 'Merlot'?", you won't get the reply "someone more likely to have a postgraduate degree who rates the budget deficit as a top 3 issue", you'll get something like "wine" or "red wine" or "is that French?".

At least the old terms of "champagne" or "limosine" did have general implications of 'rich'. 'Merlot' doesn't help analysis - it just confuses people.

Belcher is overpaid, if this is this stuff he comes up with.

[glitch]

3. I hope this makes us cab fans members of the bite-me wing of the dem party

we're deeper. :evilgrin:

[Vickers]

13. Woo hoo! Cabernet and stinky cheese!

:toast:

[glitch]

14. We need wine toasting smilies!

It's okay, I like a good brew too.
:toast:

[IndianaGreen]

5. Is this moron working for the GOP as well?

Was he snorting coke when he made it up one night?

Morons in the DNC hired morons like Belcher (is that a real name?).

If these are the people the DNC is relying on for 06 and 08 we are truly doomed!

[Carolab]

6. He's a pollster and he examined the demographics.

Again:

The phrase is intended to encompass Democratic voters who are affluent and secular in their cultural values, and not particularly anxious about "pocketbook" issues.

[IndianaGreen]

8. We call them "Rocekefeller Republicans" where I come from

and we have nothing in common with them.

[Carolab]

10. So you are not secular in your cultural values? Are you at all affluent?

Do you care about "pocketbook issues" FIRST? Or are they a bit lower down on your list--say, about third place?

Or are you poor and care about $ issues first and foremost?

Are you religious in your cultural values?


As for ME: I fit the Merlot Democrat description as outlined to a "T". And I'm about as radical liberal left as a Democrat gets!

[IndianaGreen]

11. I am secular and pocketbook issues are primary issues

I live from paycheck to paycheck and the only wine I drink is Mogen David on Friday nights.

[Carolab]

12. So the war in Iraq is a money issue to you?

How about human rights?

Are TAX CUTS a defining factor for your voting choices?

[IndianaGreen]

15. The Iraq War is a moral and legal issue for me

Our invasion of Iraq is on the same moral plane as Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, Hitler's invasion of Poland, and Japan's invasion of China.

The US broke international law when we attacked Iraq and established a concentration camp in Guantanamo and engaged in worldwide torture and murder.

The US is now an aggressor nation, the greatest threat to the security of the world since the Third Reich.

[Carolab]

17. There you go. Why do you think the "R" base supported it?

And why have many turned away from it now?

[IndianaGreen]

19. They haven't turned from the war, they think the war can be managed better

by someone other than Bush, while those of us to whom "Merlot" means nothing want the war to end now.

[Carolab]

20. No, they think it was a mistake and is going nowhere.

And I believe they are sick of paying for something that's going nowhere.

[IndianaGreen]

23. The point is that they failed to see the wrongness of the war

It only became a bad war to them when they no longer got the instant gratification of "shock and awe."

[Carolab]

24. But still, why do they NO LONGER support it? n/t

[Catrina]

22. Couldn't agree more

Is there something wrong with just using plain language to talk to people?

What childish nonsense. They better get a grip or forget about winning anything, never mind an election, if that's the best they can come up with. Great for freepers to have fun with, though. Great thinking, Belcher (maybe he drank too much Merlot that night!!).

[IndianaGreen]

30. All Belcher did was to coin a new label for the GOP to use against Dems

Most people will scratch their heads and ask "what the hell is Merlot"? "It sounds French!"

And the DNC is proud of this new product?

[Catrina]

39. Exactly!

Makes you wonder who he's working for. Either that or he's just not up to this job!

[formernaderite]

44. This is just so inside the beltway...

although accurately describing people who really do live inside the beltway. I've done some construction work for some of the snootiest democrats you'd ever run across. Merlot drinking, weekend wearing birkenstockers...yup sounds about right.

[mike_c]

7. proud zinfindel green here....

[applegrove]

9. Fur Coats in Texas Republicans. n/t

[DemoTex]

16. "Merlot is something I made up late one night," Belcher belched. Hic!

I was snockered on my second bottle of Fat Bastard. Hic! Now, about those limoshine liberalshs. Hic.




Fat Bastard Merlot spokesman, Bill Bennett

[Carolab]

18. So the base is somewhat affluent, secular, ideological and smart.

Anyone want to argue that?

[IndianaGreen]

25. Was Belcher speaking of the base of his skull or his chair?

He is describing an elite that lacks class consciousness, a group of people that are as much a part of the problem rather than the solution.

These are the people that supported NAFTA and CAFTA because they were good for their portfolios.

We have nothing in common with them!

[Carolab]

27. You are INTERPRETING. Where does it say they lack class consciousness?

I fit the description and I don't lack it. And I am COMPLETELY against NAFTA/CAFTA, too.

[IndianaGreen]

29. They don't care about pocket book issues

You are describing the investor class!

[Carolab]

32. No. It means that the base puts pocketbook issues down on the list.

NOT at the top.

So, is our #1 abiding issue tax cuts? Or the deficit? Or do we put other issues ahead of those things? Like ideological issues first?

[IndianaGreen]

33. Obviously they don't have problems making ends meet

Lower wages and decreased health benefits, if one is lucky to get them, appears not to be a problem for this class of Merlot drinking people.

[Carolab]

34. Perhaps not. But that doesn't mean they don't care about them.

I can pay my health insurance premiums but I still care about getting a one-payer universal system of health care for everyone.

I also care very much about the loss of jobs in this country and the race to the bottom on wages.

[Gormy Cuss]

21. Merlot?

If I ever get my hands on him, I'll slap him Sideways all the way to the Santa Ynez Valley.

No F*@#$ING MERLOT!
:smoke:

[IndianaGreen]

31. Belcher should have watched Sideways before he came up

with such a stupid elitist label.

[thebigidea]

26. as opposed to the Republicans, patron saints of "pocketbook issues"

Dick Cheney: friend of the Common Man.

[brentspeak]

28. D.U.M.B.

"Merlot Democrats" creates this image of snotty highbrows walking around in bicycle-riding tights, with a Starbucks latte shoved up their rear-ends.

How about a description of the typical Democrat: the average Joe and Jane, hardworking, ethical, sick and tired of Republican corruption and K-Street wheeling-and-dealing with our lives and future, and concerned with the decline of America and what lies in store for our children and grandchildren.

[Missy Vixen]

35. I like pinot noir

Does this make me the "snobby varietal wing" of the Democratic Party? I'd also like to register my displeasure with those who saw "Sideways" and are now buying up wine I liked several years ago :mad: :woohoo:!

Julie

[spooky3]

36. An unfortunate name--it's causing even DUers to miss the point

There are a lot of people who vote or would vote for Democrats who have the characteristics of the group Belcher calls "merlot Dems." That doesn't mean they are better or worse than other Dems. It just means the Dem. party leadership should not ignore them. We should be glad that we have a big tent, and glad that there are people who are Dems not primarily so they can personally benefit economically in the short run (which IS true of some Dems, and there is nothing wrong with that) but in fact are Dems because they support many Democratic policies and philosophies.

[IndianaGreen]

37. Belcher is wrong in assuming that all people of faith are alike!

Obviously he is too busy drinking Merlot to notice that most of the opposition to Bush and the war in Iraq have come from people of faith, people like the Quakers, Mennonites, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, etc., and all of them are educated.

[spooky3]

38. where are you reading that? I didn't see anything in the linked

article that said anything like that assumption you attribute to him.

[IndianaGreen]

40. Belcher calls them "Patriotic Democrats" ( a label for Reagan Democrats)

Dean is quoting the Belcher designation of groups

"Dean mentioned three other categories in this talk: "Patriotic Democrats," who often leave the party because of the Republican emphasis on moral values and the war on terrorism"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101700682.html?nav=rss_politics

[grateful581]

41. HA, I'm a Pabst Blue ribbon Democrat

With this economy, you have to drink the cheep shit

[tanyev]

42. I find that very offensive.

I drink Riesling.

[leanin_green]

45. Guess that makes me a Gamay Radical, or a Pinot Revolutionary.