Looking at the argument in detail, it seems to suggest that there's demographic reasons why this strategy may be viable. First, in the south, there's growing minority populations. African Americans are increasing in number in Georgia, while Latino populations are strengthening in Arizona and Texas. Meanwhile, anti immigration sentiment is growing in the rust belt, and is arguably driving why they went to Trump. As such, appealing Latinos and repelling anti immigration whites may pay off for democrats and shift demographics.
I don't think such a strategy is necessary though. While yes, the democrats should definitely look into capitalizing on minority support in the south, I have to disagree with the abandonment of the midwest and Pennsylvania. I don't think the south and southwest are ripe for the pickings of the democrats yet, as they tried to expand into this territory and Trump still carried it, but giving it, say, 20 years, I definitely think the democrats will be able to woo some parts of the southern half of the country that normally go republican to the democrats. And if Texas goes democrat, the democrats will have a solid advantage in the electoral college for years to come, assuming they keep New York and California.
However, abandoning the midwest is a mistake. I don't think anti immigration sentiment is as strong as indicated. I think this election was not part of a major trend toward the republicans, it was a failure of the democrats to capture the region with a message that would have resonated well. Immigration concerns are often caused in part by economic frustrations. The whole "dey took r jerbs" narrative. I think the big problem that the white working class is lashing out over is abandonment. Take this narrative I've heard for much of my life in Pennsylvania:
"Democrats spend all their time appealing to Latinos and immigrants and promising them tons of gimmes and letting them stay in the country illegally, while offering us nothing. Where are the democrats when I need help? I work for a living, I don't matter for them, they just give my hard earned money to all these latinos who come here to get crap for free."
This is something I've heard quite a few times before from conservatives in Pennsylvania. They think that latinos come here to get everything for free but when they need help they get nothing. And honestly, I can't help but think that the democrats have given people this image. Take note what I said during the convention that echoed similar sentiments. About how the democrats are appealing to this group, and that group, and they're pandering to everyone, except the Bernie people. We're told to shut up and fall in line. It's the same thing. People don't vote for you when you're not offering them anything. And that's what the democrats did here to lose the rust belt. They pushed the narrative that the economy was fine when it isn't, and people are frustrated about it, and they told us to shut up and fall in line when we tried to bring this to their attention.
Now, let's be honest, if you look at the data, there's little to suggest illegals are exploiting welfare, and there's little to suggest that they're harming peoples' economic prospects on the whole. There is a real education problem in this country, but at the same time, the democrats do this to themselves. When they run on a platform that appeals strictly to identity politics, but not on economics, you can't expect large swaths of the country to support you. They'll just look at how they're pandering to minority groups, feel unwelcome, and join the other side. I'm a leftie and I felt alienated this election. I can see where the conservatives are coming from, ignorance and all.
But let's not forget this. Many of these "conservatives" concerned about illegals on welfare will vote democrat under certain circumstances. I know quite a few who voted for Obama over Romney. Why? because Obama served their economic self interests, not Romney. If you have a positive message to bring to the voters, they'll vote for you. And the rust belt and Pennsylvania has traditionally gone democratic in recent years despite this election. And these sentiments about illegals Trump capitalized on existed for a while. It's just that when you bring that to the forefront and have your alternative offer nothing, you lose elections. When you face crappy economic prospects, in absence of a vision to fix these prospects, people will start blaming immigrants, wrongly, and then vote for people who don't serve their interests. It's simple. The democrats need to fix their message. And if the democrats combine their traditional racial minority base, while winning over lots of the white working class via a strong economic message, we'll be unstoppable. We can have our cake and eat it too, and when that happens:
LANDSLIDE
So yeah, please, don't abandon the white working class. I'm sure the left can become a stronger faction in American politics by uniting workers of all races under one banner. The only reason to pursue this silly strategy of abandoning the midwest to gain the south is to appeal to the financial elites. Regain the midwest, and let the south eventually come to you. When this happens, the left will be unstoppable and the right will be forced to change. We don't win the narrative by becoming more like the republicans. We win it by being freaking progressives and having a message that forces the republicans to change. This analysis is focusing too much on this election cycle. I don't think this cycle is the norm, but the exception thereof. Yes, the south may weaken for the republicans, but no, we shouldn't abandon the midwest just because Trump won it once, when the democrats didn't even try to win it over and just took it for granted.
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