Donald Trump’s recent surge in the GOP Presidential primary polls comes as no surprise to me. Trump’s idiotic braggadocio, his wealth, blatant racism and his brand name recognition appeals to the angry white male base of the Republican Party. The core audience of conservative talk radio and Fox news is emblematic of the demographic giving thumbs up to Trump’s bid for the White House.

The GOP has spent decades cultivating and agitating this demographic. The birth of the strategy of pitting black people against white people began in the south in the 50’s during Jim Crow and crystallized in the 1980’s with help from political operatives like Lee Atwater.

http://www.thenation.com/article/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/

The southern strategy resurged after the election of the nation’s first African American President. A segment of America felt that the country they knew and loved had been taken over by an alien, a Communist sympathizer that threatened their very existence. Trump’s endless pursuit of President Obama’s birth certificate was given life and legs by these white folks.

The ever growing diversity of our country coupled with the growing inclusive nature of young people both when it comes to race and sexuality and the increasing numbers of secular, non-church going voters has weakened the southern strategy but it will take more than demographics to loosen the GOP’s hold on the southern states.

Knowing this, the GOP political machine has been busy gerrymandering voter districts to create blocks of solid white strongholds. They’ve also been enacting voter restrictions, including ID laws all aimed at marginalizing minorities and progressive voters.

The Supreme Court recently handed a victory to progressives on the issue of gerrymandering.

The high court upheld the constitutionality of Congressional districts drawn by independent redistricting commissions — as an alternative to districts drawn by partisan legislatures.

There are two ways to beat Republicans at this game and restore a fair vote at the same time. The first is to flip as many state legislatures as possible before the next census in 2020, The other is through citizen-led initiatives and propositions putting redistricting into the hands of state level independent commissions — exactly like the commission the Supreme Court just upheld.

The GOP’s demographic dilemma is a balm to my progressive soul. How fitting that all their hate filled, racist rhetoric has driven away the voters who could help them win the next general election.

The next step in cracking the GOP’s electoral stranglehold on the south is massive voter registration drives coupled with an internet driven, social media campaign to boost voter turnout. Progressives banding together as individuals and as coalitions effectively worked to elect and re-elect President Obama, we need to replicate and expand this strategy in the next year to win again.