One of the most annoying trends in political reporting is the pervasive idea that the Democratic Party is in shambles, is unable to connect to a significant base of people, has to desperately scramble to get votes by trickery, exhortation, hyperbolic appeals to factions in society who don't share the values or beliefs of the American mainstream and that if they win elections, it's due to Republican incompetence. The Republican Party, on the other hand, is a well oiled machine, a juggernaut that rolls through the figurative streets unimpeded and destroying anything that may get in its way. Their votes are won by deliberate, careful consideration of several factors, and their voters are brought to the polls by disciplined and dedicated volunteers who inspire patriotic zeal in the American populace. Anyone who thinks that there is some kind of systemic bias in favour of the Democrats in the media should bother reading a newspaper some time, or watching a television, and seeing just how many "Dems In Disarray!" stories there really are. Even in light of the November elections, a resounding defeat for the Republican Party, and in light of the largely sucessful Democratic administration of the House of Representatives and Senate, the starting point of almost all political horserace coverage is that the Democrats, by virtue of being Democrats, are at a structural disadvantage and that the Republicans, by virtue of being Republicans, will shortly resume their natural places as the rulers of the playground. To put it bluntly, it's as if political reporters imagine elections to be a single shot contest, and that the Democrats are a handicapped chimpanzee, while the Republicans are Michael Jordan. Sure, it's possible that Jordan will miss once, and that the chimp is going to make a shot, but don't bet your retirement on it.
It is in light of years of consuming this kind of political reporting that I find this article by Bill Scher to be particularly refreshing. For once, the script has been flipped, and now it's Republicans who have to explain why it is that they do so badly amongst certain demographics. Scher is trying to make a serious point, and in doing so, has illustrated a systemic failure of political reporting. Just about anyoen with access to a newspaper or the internet since 2004 has heard about the "God Gap" between the two parties. To riff from Scher, how about we hear about what we can jokingly call the "Secular Separation" between the Democrats and the Republicans? Amongst people who don't frequent their places of worship more than once a week, the Republicans have been bleeding votes for years now. If we take the spokesmen of their largest coalition partner at their word, this country continues to slide into irreligious sin. Does this mean that ceteris paribus, the GOP are doomed to electoral irrelevance? Perhaps it won't be long before we see J.C. Watts on Fox News describing what tactics the GOP will be using to appeal to the all important "Secular Citizen."
