Democratic forebodings for November (2)

It's sad and astonishing, even for those of us who expect the Democratic leadership to disappoint us often, to see how the Democratic Party could take an opportunity like the one Arizona presented them with Latino voters and squander it. Markos Moulitsas writes in FL-Gov: Sunk by anti-immigrant rhetoric Daily Kos 08/31/2010.

Republicans are making headway with Latinos by talking about Obama's broken promises. And while they may conveniently omit their role in blocking any such reform, fact is that Democrats never made a serious push for reform. Reid may whine about 60 votes, but even holding a vote and going down in defeat would've shown Latinos which party was fighting for them, and which one is standing in their way. Instead, Democrats are stuck with the worst of all worlds -- lack of progress, and the blame for the lack of progress.

For Latinos, a demographic that is already prone to staying home on election day, a sense of political helplessness is a recipe for lower turnout. And the lower the Latino turnout, the more seats we'll lose in November. [my emphasis]

In general, the Democrats are nearly willing enough to fight a good fight even when they are likely to lose. Sometimes it can pay off in the long run. Sometimes you might even win!

Markos returns to the subject in Losing Latinos 09/02/2010 where he says, "Given that Latinos are now a 2-1 Democratic constituency, and a fast-growing one at that, the lack of action and anti-Democratic blowback will be deadly at the polls."

Tags: 2010 elections, democratic party