How come teabaggers can win statewide races but progressives can't?

[KamaAina]

Outside New England, at any rate.

Cruz, Paul, now Ernst.

[postulater]

1. More rural?

[KamaAina]

2. Vermont (Bernie) is pretty rural

[somebody-else]

3. several reasons

Ignorance, stupidity, misinformation, apathy......

[KamaAina]

4. A-yup.

And welcome to DU! You sure picked a dandy time to join us.

[emulatorloo]

5. Ersnt kept her real positions under wraps, local media helped her out

A gazillion dollars in Koch/Rove money. She avoided any hard questions, and ran as a combat vet, mom, and the fact she grew up on a farm and castrated pigs.

She is gonna be a media darling, in the same way Palin was in '08. Lots of attention and exposure. I think she will unravel under that scrutiny the same way Palin did.

[Bjorn Against]

6. Here in Minnesota Democrats won every state-wide race last night

[KamaAina]

7. But how many of them are progressives?

Okay, maybe Franken.

[Bjorn Against]

11. Dayton is probably even more progressive than Franken is

I believe Steve Simon is quite progressive as well.

[Ampersand Unicode]

8. Because more Americans are right-wing than left

The left has a stigma connected to it from the anti-communist hysteria of the past. Millennials (who have little to no recollection of the Cold War or the USSR) don't yet matter in terms of real political influence in this country. Right now it's still the remaining octogenarian WWII-era folks and the "reformed hippie" Boomers dealing the blows to true progressivism thanks to Fox News associating Democrats with Saul Alinsky and the Weather Underground. They might as well have compared them to the Manson Family (in which case I could counter-argue that the right could be compared to the Branch Davidians).

Think about it. The youngest of the eligible voters who could have gone in yesterday was born in 1996 (that would include me). That's even too young to remember anything firsthand about the Clinton era, maybe not even Bush. They were in junior high when Obama first got elected in '08 and were just getting their learners' permits in 2012. They don't know a world without the Internet, and get their news more often from peers, from "niche" sources online, and from Jon Stewart, about the only TV anchorman they can tolerate unless you count Ron Burgundy.

You still see a lot of die-hard Kennedy worshipers trying to carry on the torch for JFK in New England, but there's a weird growth of GOPers who voted for Romney, Weld and now Baker, and who probably weren't big fans of the family despite all the Kennedy-mania from the sixties. There might even be an influx from the south and from New Hampshire into states like MA and VT relocating for jobs in a new state, and bringing their racist, evangelical, and pro-business beliefs with them when they move. The majority of "grown-ups" hold steadfast to that old axiom about not being old and conservative meaning you haven't got a head (which also means they now haven't got a heart). They look pejoratively upon their same-aged peers who never let go of their sixties idealism, viewing them as immature, "stoned," brain-dead, etc. The majority of young people are religious Nones and big-government progressives who believe in protections for the environment, for women's reproductive freedom, for LGBT rights, and against the influence of big business and dark money in politics. Of course, there are plenty who don't care about any of this and just tweet all day long about Alex the Target clerk and One Direction. But give them time and they'll come around to being activists just like the young boomer hippies way back when.

The only problem is, by the time they really do get the ball rolling politically, it might be too late.

[Awsi Dooger]

9. Check the number of self-identified liberals and conservatives per state

I've emphasized that category for more than a decade. It's much more important than party identification.

When the typical state has roughly 21% liberals and 33% conservatives, not exactly difficult to grasp the math needed to get to a majority. The liberal simply has too much burden in terms of swiping from the other side, or swaying the middle.

Only in the states with more balanced self-identification does the liberal have a good opportunity. I've posted those numbers previously, although it's been many years on this site.

When there's an overall national slant, the self-identified numbers can shift a few points. That's what happened in 2008, and led to the Obama victories in states like North Carolina. But that shift is temporary. Since I've been following this, very few states have changed noticeably in self-identified numbers. Virginia has shifted. It used to be 40% conservatives but that has dropped markedly.

Every cycle I read great things about our opportunity in Georgia. I continue to laugh. The number of self-identified conservatives is simply too high. Besides, as I posted here beginning in 2002, Georgia and Alaska are two of the worst polled states in the country. For whatever reason the polling in those states consistently exaggerates support for the Democrat.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Fear.

Fear is more motivating, especially to low-information voters, than any progressive principles. There have been scientific studies showing that people who are more strongly motivated by fear are more likely to vote Republican. Conservatism is by its nature a fear-based philosophy, and the congenitally fearful will align politically with the uninformed, who can be easily frightened and aroused to anger with falsehoods. So even if a progressive candidate offers ideas that will actually help people - more jobs, higher wages, etc. - all that can be negated and drowned out with messages of fear and outrage. Foreigners invading their towns, gay people marrying their children, ISIS, Ebola, "the government" taking away their money and giving it to undeserving minorities, and so on. The teabaggers exploit fear very successfully, and use it to overwhelm positive progressive messages.

[southerncrone]

12. Because the dumbing down of Amurka worked! Quite a coup!

America in 2014 is more disconnected from reality than ever. I suggest we are suffering from a form of PTSD since 9/11. How many people are on some time of mind-altering meds--FROM THEIR DOCTOR. And/or running to religion for comfort. Very sad when one's belief system is hijacked. Then there are the other forms of mindless numbing--alcohol, street drugs, TV, movies, sports, shopping, the list goes on & on. Then we have Faux Noise that imprints on these addled minds. School curriculum has been hijacked & moneys drained off for corporate testing, insuring kids are not taught to THINK for themselves, just become recording devices to spew back rote info.
This planned agenda has been in the pipeline for decades. They are now reaping the rewards. Welcome to the new feudalism.