What groups of voters, then, are left to the Republicans to appeal to and identify with?
Well, the whites, for one. (The last Democratic candidate to win a majority of the white vote was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, nearly half a century ago.) Men, for another. (There's a lot of talk about the "gender gap," but in recent elections the margin by which men vote Republican has exceeded that by which women vote Democratic.) And married people favor the Republicans by a wide margin -- especially couples with children. So, too, do small businessmen (leaving George Soros and his ilk as the champions of the Democrats).
Do you begin to get the picture?
Recently, the hotter Democratic activists have fastened onto a new issue, which they hope may have more traction with the average American voter. It is a demand that America pull out of Iraq. Sometimes it is presented delicately, as a proposal to "redeploy" our forces there to some other, unstated destination by a certain date. Sometimes it is put forward more baldly, as the only way to force the Iraqis to defend themselves.
Lots of Americans have their doubts about our presence in Iraq. But I doubt whether becoming known as "the bug-out party" is what the Democrats really need to add to their current reputation with the American people.