I really don't understand what the Democrats have to do.
Are they supposed to allow (un)intelligent design to be taught at schools? Are they supposed to make food stamps, social security, medicare, medicaid "for-whites-only" programs?
Are they supposed to ban abortion? Teach schoolchildren how to use guns?
I really don't get it. The Democrats are already too conservative for their base on many issues (see the reaction to Villaraigosa at the DNC when the party officials tried to invoke God in the party platform or the polls on gun control and how different public opinion is than the opinion of many Washington Democrats).
It's conservatives that will have to change their views and join the rest of us in the 21st century. But I don't see that happening any time soon and I really don't know where that will lead. But I hope I'm wrong.
I wasn't suggesting the Democratic party dumb itself down to appeal to bubbas, I was just offering my opinion on why Dems are detested by that demographic. I agree that they are the ones who need to change, not the Democratic party. But their worldview is based on more than just race. It's a combination of conservative religious dogma and a sheltered outlook on the real world that you described well in your post.