The Psychology of Base Dems

As I’ve written here ad nauseum, I spend an hour every night having drinks and snacks and watching the news with my old man. In addition to the damage to my liver — he can really knock them back at age 94 — I think I have a better idea of the thinking of what I’d call the “average” engaged Democrat of a certain age. When Democrats could actually get elected around here, he worked in the county party, and after he retired, he knocked doors for the Obama campaign when they thought they had a chance in the state. He’s spent time and money supporting the party for probably 50+ years. And he’s not a rich guy — the procedure to remove financial sense that’s performed on every medical student was probably done twice on him to make sure it took, plus he’s very generous with his kids. So if he gives money to Democrats, it’s not because his money means nothing to him.

Anyway, the other night we were talking about Alex Padilla and that led to a discussion of the California Senatorial elections. As an engaged Democrat, his mailbox is full of fundraising requests from Democrats across the country. He mentioned that he had been a supporter of both Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, and was disappointed to see them running against each other. I think part of that is due to him being a resident of a state where Demcrats are lucky to get candidates to fill the statewide tickets. He liked Schiff, but he really liked Porter. He was impressed with the clips he saw on MSNBC of her schooling folks who testified before the House committees where she served.

So, when I explained to him that Schiff won because Karen Bass and Porter split the left vote, and also because crypto investors backed Schiff, he was pretty upset about the crypto part. This was new information to him, a very engaged Democrat who spends a lot of time watching MSNBC. That’s because, in my admittedly limited experience watching MSNBC, they don’t report on any issues that would make Democrats look bad. He gave a bunch of money to Democrats, but he was ignorant of what I consider the rot in the party: the subservience to big donors.

I also think that his political views are more mainstream (in the Democratic Party) than we’re led to believe. He’s a huge reproductive rights supporter, including abortion. He’s all about Medicare for All or any other plan that will lead to Americans having better healthcare. He likes AOC and Bernie as much as he likes any other Democrat who would appear on MSNBC. He is angry about the assault on trans folks. He married a woman who was the daughter of Mexican citizens and he has no patience with the anti-immigrant bullshit.

Obviously, given his age, he’s not going to be a big part of the changes that the Democrats need to make to beat Trumpism. That said, this guy is no radical. He deserves to be better informed by the media he chooses to consume, and the party that’s he’s supported all his life should be relying more on committed small donors like him rather than big money crypto bros.