A new Pew survey has disturbing news for we in the Democratic Party: whites - especially those who are poorer and younger - are joining the Republican Party in droves. What we Democrats can do about this below, first from Pew (link):

As the country enters into the 2012 presidential election cycle, the electorate’s partisan affiliations have shifted significantly since Barack Obama won office nearly three years ago. In particular, the Democrats hold a much narrower edge than they did in 2008, particularly when the partisan leanings of independents are taken into account.

Notably, the GOP gains have occurred only among white voters; a 2-point Republican edge among whites in 2008 (46% to 44%) has widened to a 13-point lead today (52% to 39%). In sharp contrast, the partisan attachments of black and Hispanic voters have remained consistently Democratic.

While Republican gains in leaned party identification span nearly all subgroups of whites, they are particularly pronounced among the young and poor. A seven-point Democratic advantage among whites under age 30 three years ago has turned into an 11-point GOP advantage today. And a 15-point Democratic advantage among whites earning less than $30,000 annually has swung to a slim four-point Republican edge today.

We Democrats need to take action, and we need to take action now:

1. While I haven't personally met any of them, I know for a fact that those whites who've joined the GOP are racists. We Democrats need to call out the remaining few who haven't yet joined the GOP as racists as well. That will prevent them from joining the GOP. Perhaps George Soros could pay for a speaking tour by one of our top intellectuals such as Rachel Maddow. She could conduct a "Racial Wake-Up Tour" to take our message that all GOP-leaning whites are racist right to them. As part of that effort, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti Defamation League could be enlisted to call out the racists and perhaps even call them terrorists.

2. Those whites who've joined the GOP won't be able to help the GOP much without jobs! We should further increase our policy of massive low-skilled and high-skilled immigration in order to drive them out of work. Our strong support for affirmative action can help with that as well.

3. Under no circumstances should we point out that the GOP is currently little more than an MLM program designed to help the very rich at the expense of everyone else. We must not point out that the tea parties are simply serving the interests of the very rich. And under no circumstances should we point out the areas in which the Koch family - a major stringpuller of the teaparties and much of the rightwing - assists us through their support for massive immigration. Why, David Koch even joined with Soros to give $10 million dollars to the ACLU, and we should never mention that to anyone.

If we Democrats follow the steps above, I'm sure things will work out OK. Sure, it might in effect continue to help the GOP screw the U.S., but who cares about that?