Why do Native Americans go for Democrats?

[MarkDel]

Of this Nation,

Yes, but that doesn't make what Dazzleman said wrong, it just means that not everyone fits into his equation. I would argue that he's right more often than not.

You said there are many people who are perfectly happy with THEIR place in society who vote Democratic. I don't think they really are happy at all. The people you refer to either suffer from some twisted sense of guilt over their good fortune in life, or they have some ideological grievance with the foundation of American society itself. Either way, the defining emotion of modern day Democrats is ANGER...though this was clearly not always the case. In fact, one could argue that from FDR to JFK that the Democratic Party was the symbol of hope and all that's positive about America, but since Vietnam and Watergate, the Democrats and Republicans have traded roles...with the Democrats now representing the negative, glass is half empty view of America.

[MarkDel]

Of this Nation,

Yes, I still think it was true during the Clinton years. The Democrats were still very negative about the US domestically as well as its role in the world throughout the 1990's. The Republicans were ridiculously negative about CLINTON, but not about the country.

Look at how the Democratic Party seized on the Timothy McVeigh case to politicize the existence of militia groups in the United States. That's why it's so funny to listen to Democrats complain about Bush making too big a deal about International Islamic Terrorism...in the 1990's, Democrats were acting like militia groups were going to overrun the nation if we weren't careful, and how it was a sign that this nation is still hopelessly racist.

All throughout the 1990's during the Clinton era, all we heard over and over again was how racist we are, and how sexist we are, and how homophobic we are, and how intolerant the political right is. And when it came to foreign policy, the talk was about abolishing the CIA because they were an evil entity which interfered with the freedom of other nations, etc, etc, etc...

The Democrats may have been positive about Clinton, but they sure as hell were not positive in their view of the United States.

[MarkDel]

Lewis,

You have the slightest (maybe) of points in what you said. However, the real question is one of EMPHASIS, hence my comment about seeing things half empty as opposed to half full. Democrats during the FDR to JFK era also saw things wrong with the country and sought, successfully I might add, to rectify those problems. But while they worked to advance social justice, they never spent ENDLESS time emphasizing the negative. The message was always to build towards a positive future...forget the mistakes or ills of the past...let's move on and build a better country...FDR's New Deal...JFK with the Civil Rights movement and the Space Program. Everything was about finding COMMON ground between people and working TOGETHER towards a common future. Now all Democrats talk about is what's WRONG with the country without offering a positive alternative. They look back to stress the negatives even though they are no longer negatives, or marginal issues at best. And when they do offer an alternative, what is it...DIVERSITY...let's bring people together by STRESSING THEIR DIFFERENCES...yeah, that's worked soooo well for us.

[MarkDel]

Gustaf,

Please explain to me how it is "intellectually dishonest" to say someone is negative??? Your Nazi Germany analogy is not very useful...it's pyscho babble...what does negative mean???...LOL...kind of like "it depends in your definition of what the word IS is..."

[MarkDel]

Gustaf,

It's pyscho babble because you're essentially arguing with me about what the definition of the word negative is!!!

Yes, being against something CAN lead to a negative attitude towards that issue, but my point is, as I've said several times, more about emphasis and actually seeking to find a positive alternative.

A Democrat in the 1940's saw social ills and wanted to fix them with a better solution. A Democrat in the 1990's saw social ills and wanted to bitch about them to illustrate how awful the US is and how evil Republicans are. That obviously does not apply to ALL Democrats, but it fairly sums up what I mean by the "glass half empty" view versus the "glass half full" view.

[MarkDel]

Gustaf,

I do see your point, but it's just not relevant.