How Democrats Can Win Back the White Working Class and Increase Turnout Among Blacks and Latinos
The two parts of this story seem to create an impossible conundrum for Democrats: Do more for minorities and the poor, and you presumably risk driving social conservatives even further into the arms of Republicans. But ignore the needs of those who need more government activism—and the Democratic base fails to turn out.
You could see the administration wrestling with this dilemma in the way it handled the question of deportations. It was an open secret that the White House had an executive order ready to go, one that would spare as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants with good records from being shipped out, and allowing them to work legally in the U.S.
But the tacticians of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee begged the White House to hold off until after the election, for fear of costing Democratic candidates their elections in tricky places like Colorado and Iowa. So the White House delayed, infuriating its Hispanic supporters. But Democrats blew their races in those states anyway. Now—when it makes no difference electorally—Obama is poised to issue the order.
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