The Democrat party's elitism

David Brooks has written an excellent column that describes the current state of the Democrat and Republican parties.

Since the 1960's there has been a breakdown in the machinery that allowed Americans to work together across class and other divisions. The educated class has come to dominate, and the issues of interest to that class overshadow issues of interest to the less educated and less well off.

But the two major parties were affected unequally. The Republican coalition still contains some cross-class associations, like the N.R.A. and the evangelical churches, which connect corporate elites to the middle classes. The Democratic coalition has fewer organizations like that. Its elite - the urban and university-town elite - has less contact with the less educated.

Not coincidentally, Republicans have a much easier time putting together electoral majorities.

The one advantage that the Democrats seem to have over the Republicans at this point is ideological conformity. It's easy to name a few prominent Republicans who have dissented on issues such as abortion, gun control, tax cuts and the Federal Marriage Amendment. John McCain and Rudy Guiliani come to mind. But how easy is it to name a Democrat who is supportive of concealed carry laws or a flat tax? This ideological conformity is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It limits the ability of the Democrats to attract moderate voters, but it also nearly guarantees that future Democrat nominees for President will receive at least 45 percent of the popular vote.