I’m really worried about minority rule – especially when that means the republicans are in charge. In all of the articles I have read recently, two factors stand out for predicting a republican vote – education and identification. It appears that less educated and more identified people tend to vote republican. I think there are several related factors that predict republican voters. Conveniently and characteristically, they all start with the letter R.
Rich: 63% of individuals earning $200,000 or more per year support republicans. Rich people want to protect their wealth. The pro-business, anti-tax, deregulation priorities of republican platforms make them attractive to high income, high wealth people.
Racist: 57% of republicans believe whites face a lot of discrimination compared to 13% of democrats. While it is difficult to measure racism and problematic to call people racists, it’s fair to say that anti-immigration and anti-Black Lives Matter attitudes tend to predict racial bias and beliefs. My bet is that a small percentage of democrats latched onto the “China virus” rhetoric and other inflammatory language while more republicans subscribe to “replacement” fears.
Rifle-toting: Twice as many republicans own guns than democrats. In fact, 64% of republicans live in a household with a gun while only 18% of democrats own at least one gun. White, rural men are particularly fond of their guns, often possess more than one, and are committed to always owning a gun. They believe a republican vote means they are free to carry any kind of weapon, anywhere.
Religious: 67% of white protestants vote republican. Clearly, the anti-choice movement is driven primarily by religious republicans who don’t believe women should be empowered to make choices about their bodies. Most republicans also believe in “family values” while only 23% of LGBTQ folks vote republican. These issues are at the crux of the culture wars.
Rural: Republicans tend to live predominantly in the South and Midwest. 59% of rural Americans vote republican. My sense is that a large share of anti-democratic rage in rural voters is derived from their experience with condescending coastal-elitists who dismiss their perspectives and concerns. This rural rage often manifests in anti-science and anti-intellectual stances.
Reactionary: The diversity within the Democratic Party has provoked a backlash in the Republican Party, solidifying its embrace of Christian nationalism. As I have written previously, reconstruction brought us Jim Crow, the 1964 Civil Rights bill rekindled the white supremacy movement, and the Barack Obama Presidency paved the way for Trump. In my mind, republicans have become more and more reactionary (e.g. convoluted conspiracy theories), ruthless (e.g. Mitch McConnell), relentless (e.g. taking over state and local governments), repulsive (e.g. replacing RBG with Amy Coney Barrett), rigid (e.g. no compromise), and raging (e.g. January 6 attempted coup). And what we have learned is that outrage against all these reactionary behaviors stands no chance against the shamelessness inherent in the reactions.
Regressive: To me, it seems obvious that the republican party has been taken over by ultra conservatives and extremists. They have become increasing seduced by anachronistic thinking and are clinging to the “good old days” of white, male, Christian supremacy. Republicans have been fighting social progress for several decades by cutting funding for programs that help the poor, elderly, mothers, and children. This move to extreme positions is a problem because 37% of Americans identify as conservative and only 24% as progressive liberal. That means in the battle for the remaining 39% of moderates, the republicans only need to win 13% whereas democrats need to win 26%. Yes, democrats need to capture twice as many of the moderate slice in order to win. In order to accomplish that herculean task, democratic messaging needs to be targeted at moderates – 39% of voters. Currently, the messaging is targeted at progressive liberals – 24% of voters. It’s a losing strategy.
These seven R’s of republicanism pose dangers for the mid-terms in 2022 and the national elections in 2024. Even though 49% of US adults now identify as democrats and 40% identify as republican, I’m worried that gerrymandering, voter suppression, legislative over-reach, judicial activism, and the Electoral College could very well be sufficient to impose minority rule in our country. What is particularly frightening is that strong identification with any one of the seven R’s will lead to another republican vote. Democrats may be composed of diverse demographics, but the republicans can tap into seven buckets of rage and resentment. The real danger is that embracing one single “R” issue is enough to dominate, define and determine a right leaning republican’s entire political reasoning, or lack thereof.
All of these 7 Rs raise questions of freedom: Are we free to engage in hate speech? Are we free to be willfully ignorant? Are we free to carry guns into State Capitols? Are we free to not wear masks when that means putting others at risk? Are we free to leverage our religious rights in ways that deny others their rights? Are we free to exploit workers to accumulate obscene amounts of wealth and create gross inequalities?
Coincidentally, I just finished four books about freedom: On Freedom by Maggie Nelson, The Magician by Colm Toibin, Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, and Bewilderment by Richard Powers. All of these books provide a deeper analysis of the discussions surrounding the 7Rs.
In On Freedom, Maggie Nelson dazzled me with her brilliance by describing how we navigate the tensions between individual and collective freedoms. She applies dozens of theoretical koans to issues of freedom related to art, drugs, sex, and climate change. I found her examples of what it means to practice freedom profoundly thought provoking.
In The Magician, Colm Tobin presents a fictional account of Thomas Mann as he grew up in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Germany, moved to the US to avoid persecution, and then returned to Europe to reflect on his life and role in the world. This book potently describes the dangers of letting ruthless and raging behavior go unchecked. Why did so few people question Hitler’s “freedom” to execute the holocaust? And what happens when freedom of expression is met with death?
In Harlem Shuffle, Colson Whitehead portrays life in upper Manhattan in the 1950’s and 1960’s when blacks were systematically discriminated against with structural racism re: housing, education, economic opportunity etc. He tells the story of a hustler/business man who had to live two lives in order to survive. The book raises disturbing questions about why some people are not allowed to be free while others are free to act in heinous ways? Sound familiar?
Finally, in Bewilderment, Richard Powers blew me away with his touching narrative of a neuro-divergent nine-year-old who saw the world so much more clearly than the “neuro-normal” people in the world. In many ways, Robin (the child) reminded me of Greta Thunberg who courageously confronts world leaders with her quest and questions related to climate change. “How dare you plunder the world for your own selfish pleasures while you destroy the future for the children?” “Why do you think you can pretend that you are doing something constructive when your “blah, blah, blahs” have resulted in no real change in laws or behavior?” “Why do you believe you are free to indulge yourselves when the world is crumbling around you? “How many fires and floods will it take for you to wake up?”
It seems to me that all of us should be living in those questions instead of the ones that are currently occupying us – especially the republicans.
I’m hoping that democrats will start living by 7Ds to fight the perils of the republican 7R’s. May we be daring, disciplined, devoted, demanding, decisive, deliberate, and determined. May we find the courage, bravery and strategic intelligence to return our country to majority rule. Our democracy, our future and our freedom depend on it.
Also published on Medium.
We’ll done my friend! Thank you!
Another great piece Rick. Thank you.