BC Ain't PC?

I was looking for a subject for today's post and found this cartoon strip. Which hits the nail on the head.

Nobody is happy with either party, but for vastly different reasons.

Dems are unhappy with Repubs because they are Repubs, and are angry at the Dems because they aren't Left enough.

Repubs are unhappy with Dems because they are Dems, and unhappy with Repubs because they aren't Right enough.

Okay; so maybe they're reasons AREN'T vastly different, just the reasons for their reasons.

The question each party has to ask (and successfully answer) is where do the voters stand?

Kind of simplified, but we can break it down into 5 positions:

Far Right: Right: Center: Left: Far Left.

Earth shattering isn't it? Yeah I know; nothing new to see here.

The chart isn't new, but maybe my analysis of it is. Because the question is where are the voters?

First; they aren't evenly distributed; Second; they aren't static and Third; they aren't mobile.

And no, the last two aren't contradictory.  Very few voters will change their minds on a specific issue. Other than the change from young liberal to older conservative. But in this case they are just replacing their dying parents and likewise being replaced by their growing children. And most of the time they go from left leaning Center to right leaning Center; that aren't going from Left to Right.

Then there are those who start at Far Left. They tend to stay there. Nobody who shouted "Power to the People" in the 1960's grew up to join the John Birch Society. Unless they only shouting "Power" to pick up chicks. Trying to attract women will make men do strange things; sometimes Very Strange things. But you see my point; they are static in their position.

Same with those on the Far Right. If they are God, Guns and Country at 18, they will be God, Guns and Country at 68.  Static.

The Center is a little more fluid. Sometimes they are left leaning Center, bumping up against being Left, and other times they are right leaning Center, bumping up against being Right. A great swilling mass, always stable in ultimate position, but always in motion within the position. Kind of like stirring a big bowl of pudding. right around the spoon the pudding is always deeper than anywhere else n the bowl, but not really deep enough to make a big difference in the depth anywhere else.

The spread breaks down like this: Far Right- 21%; Right- 21%; Center- 25%; Left-20% and Far Left- 13%. The far left has the fewest adherent, but they are the most vocal. Power to the People!, remember?

Assuming all of there groups are static, how can they also be mobile?

Because changes in government will cause their relative positions to change. the problem is they aren't on a line, but in a circle. Your 'Power to the People' Lefty isn't too far away from a limited government Tea Partier when you get right down to it. They want the same thing, just have different methods of trying to get it.

Which brings us back to my premise; where do the voters stand?

It depends; what is the issue?

So much has been made over the years of the Reagan Democrats, and why they were willing to cross party lines to vote for a Republican. Here is my take on it: Reagan said it best; "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me". Reagan carried the old line Democrat principles into the Republican Party, and bridged the gap between the two. It hasn't worked since, and will never work again. All of the old line Democrats are gone already, and no one will follow a so-called Progressive from the Dems to the Repubs, even if one was so foolhardy as to try.

And no Repub would bother to vote for them either, knowing the conversion wasn't Saul-like, but one of opportunity.

So, after all of this prattling; WHERE DO THE VOTERS STAND?!?!?!!?

Right where you would expect the to be; in favor of limited government, less taxation and a strong defense. They may say it different ways, and define 'limited' or 'less' or 'strong' a little differently, but other than the 13% fringe left, this is what they want.

So why won't either party give it to them?