Re: Colbert, Dafur, and Dems
Luke Weiger wrote:
Question for Doug and Joel regarding Frank’s conclusion that there are immediate political gains to be had by moving leftwards economically: what’s his evidence?
None really - a point that’s reinforced by Bartels’ analysis of the National Election Survey numbers. A very substantial portion of white voters supports Rep economic policies. Riding my current hobbyhorse, it’s a reflection of American Protestantism, which quite likes the market because 1) humans are essentially bad, and need stern discipline, not an indulgent welfare state and, relatedly, 2) the market is a wonderful mechanism of reward and punishment. So, for white Protestants at least, there’s no necessary contradiction between the “cultural” and the economic issues.
Doug