Thanks for clarifying that it's the voters that you're looking at; those who identify themselves as Democrats, yet are not really active in party politics or affairs. Kind of difficult to put a handle on, in truth.
I can only report what I observe from GOTV stuff I've been involved in. In my view it's a combination of things. And I'm not so sure that Democratic voters (or Republican voters for that matter) put the kind of intense, analytical microscope that you or I might put on the topic.
People tend to vote and support the same things that their parents and grandparents did. They also tend to vote what they believe their economic interests are. Or how they perceive them. There's also something of a "branding" mentality out there. Some people approach selecting a political party like they would select a brand of toothpaste. Some folks buy Crest and will never change, same for Colgate.
Again, I think you might be trying to put too fine a point on a decision that many people really don't put much thought into in the first place. Because when put to the harsh light of analytical scrutiny, the reason why people voted for X or Y party might not stand up in the face of logic.
For example, you could probably demonstrate that voting for the Democratic party has a detrimental impact on education. Yet Democrats are identified with their support of education. I on the other hand could probably demonstrate that voting for the Republican party has a detrimental impact on our gun rights. Yet Republicans are identified with their support of the Second Amendment.
There's a lot of mythbuilding and mythmaking that goes into politics. Perhaps you should be looking at how political parties/candidates/media create and reinforce myths to get more insight.
some very good points, about which I shall have to think.
thanks.
quick question: is it pointless to try to understand the nature of the grassroots, ie: would it be more likely to be profitable to turn my eye to understanding and altering the other echelons, in the assumption that the brand-name democrat grassroots will follow where those other echelons go, irrespective of direction?