The party is just the tip of the iceberg. The white elite (Howard Dean, John Kerry, Hilary Clinton... but also the White public school teacher) have a need to feel superior to somebody. They also want a means of assuaging their guilt feelings.
The white elite need a needy underclass dependent on the good intentions of the white elite to take care of the underclass.
The white elite think that a major thing that separates them from the white red neck is that the white elite "take good care" of the people on their plantaton.
That leaves the Dem Party as.... yep ... the plantation.
"That leaves the Dem Party as.... yep ... the plantation."
Outstanding! You are right on!