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Democrats Have Become the Party of ‘Basic White Bitches’

Sometime around 2009, the term “basic bitch” or—with extra salt—“basic white bitch” began to creep into common American parlance. In essence, it means “a female who conforms to her surroundings and claims she is unique.” The more clueless she is about her basic tastes, the more basic she is. And as with all things selected to be denigrated and mocked today, the more white the basic bitch is, the more she will be decried and held in contempt by our identity politics-soaked Left. For them, “basic” and “white” are synonyms. Their hue and cry is summoned against anything that smacks of a unifying or homogeneous American enthusiasm. Deeming such things “white” is the preferred method of dismissing them.

But this presents a serious conundrum for today’s leftists and particularly for the Democratic Party. Why? Because today’s Democrats have become little more than the party of the “basic white bitch.”

According to a recent poll by Gallup and analyzed extensively by Thomas Edsall in the New York Times, Democrats find themselves today being pushed leftward by “[w]ell-educated whites, especially white women” (emphasis mine). Indeed, such white women are responsible for the lion’s share of the outsized representation of self-identified white liberals within the Democratic Party, now up to over 40 percent of their membership. This change is a relatively new phenomenon, in keeping with the rise of political correctness on the college campuses where these white women “studied” and, Hermione Granger-style, did their homework well.

Since 2001, the percentage of white Democrats identifying as liberal on social issues rose from 39 percent to 61 percent. There has been a general trend moving to the Left among all demographic groups within the Democratic party, but white women take the leftist cake by far. Their leftism outstrips that of Democrats, notably “women of color.”

White liberals, for example, are far more likely than black Democrats to blame “racism” for the problems of blacks in America—by a 20-point margin. Whereas almost twice as many black as white Democrats place significant blame upon the particular problems of the individuals involved, the policies of the party definitely reflect a determination to fight “systemic” racism rather than confront behaviors and habits that hold back African-Americans. Yet this disparity of opinion with the people actually dealing with the difficulties they have determined to solve does little to deter the white women of the Democratic Party from lording it over the rest of the party like the patronizing Beckies that they are.

How does the driving leftism of these white female Democrats signal their “basic” status, though? Typically, the measure of a woman’s “basicness” has to do with the degree of her unthinking affinity for fads that capture the popular imagination—be they the ubiquitous pumpkin spice lattés on offer at Starbucks; leggings and Ugg™ boots in winter; Mason jar, chalkboard, and burlap decor for every occasion; or #MeToo, a basic bitch can be counted upon to sing the praises of whatever’s popular or celebrated at the moment.

But as this famous video suggests, an affinity for “basic shit” is not in itself the disease. You can be basic and “give no f—s” and thereby actually be sort of “badass.” What makes a “basic” morph into “bitch” is her oh-so-frequent assumption that it that in embracing the pedestrian she is somehow edgy or, to be even more basic, “cool.” It’s also her pathetic desire to be embraced along with the trend that’s disquieting and irritating to people who are not as needy.

In other words, a “basic bitch” is utterly lacking in self-awareness. Think of her politics as an off-the-rack brand of the radical chic Tom Wolfe described in the 1970s. If there is a better way to understand the kind of milquetoast and memorized campus leftism that’s infecting and actually moving today’s Democrats than “basic” I’m sure I don’t know what it is. Just have a look at this “basic shit”:

Now there’s an original idea. Very persuasive, too. Dress up like the characters from “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In fact this is about as edgy and persuasive as the idea that a Panera panini sandwich is gourmet Italian cuisine. Ladies, this is completely basic. It does not even require that you talk, which is both merciful and convenient.

And this. Just what the hell, exactly, is this?

Here we see a herd of independent female minds led in chant (by a man, no less) at the Capitol building during the Kavanaugh hearings. If these women have ideas about what they are doing here beyond reliving their high school hollaback days and their golden years as campus judicial board inquisitors, it is likely that those thoughts have more to do with lunch than leftism. They have about as much chance at making persuasive arguments on behalf of the “democracy” they lament (yet simultaneously disrupt) as they do of getting the smell of cat piss out of their Ugg boots.

And who can forget these hysterical shrieks from the gallery at the Senate’s vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh?

Absolutely nothing stereotypically irrational or female about that display.

This behavior and these attitudes are even more basic than today’s Democrats may realize. Though their widespread adoption is only lately of note, the archetype is much older than its current enthusiasts probably realize. In watching them “perform,” I am always reminded of Andie MacDowell’s (much more sympathetic, because actually feminine) character “Brontë” in the 1990 movie “Green Card.”

In that film, Brontë, a horticulturist and environmental activist (natch), is the daughter of a writer who names all of his daughters after famous female novelists. In an arrangement of convenience, she marries “Georges” (Gerard Depardieu), who has overstayed his tourist visa, so that he may get his green card and she may lease an apartment with a greenhouse in a building with a board that gives preference to married couples. Their scheme does not go quite according to plan, however, and when the INS decides to investigate, Brontë and Georges realize that they will have to learn more about one another if they are to make it through their pending interviews. While looking through some old photo albums of Brontë’s, she notes the differences between Georges and her own liberal family:

Brontë (looking at a picture of her father): Very strong opinions.

In fact, you and my father . . . You couldn’t get two people more different.
Yeah, you’d hate each other.

Georges: Why?

Brontë: Well, you’re so right-wing about everything.

Georges: I’m not wing. You are the one with the wing. All your ideas are from the same place. (emphasis added)

Brontë: That’s not true.

Georges: Huh?

Brontë: These are from college, different demonstrations.

Georges: What for?

Brontë: Oh, everything.

Georges: Everything?

As the midterms approach, the Democrats want us to believe that women are pissed. They want men, particularly Republican men, to believe they need to “shut up and step up,” which really means, “stand down and do as you’re told.”

Denied their “first woman president” and driven to distraction by Donald Trump, they lash out and rage against all things they were taught to deem deplorable. Well, guess what? It’s not really working. Women are not pissed, though Democrat Beckies are far around the bend.

They may be able to bully the members of their own political party into getting in line behind them, but signs are everywhere that their capacity to retain their grip on thinking individuals is slipping, and slipping fast.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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About Julie Ponzi

Julie Ponzi is Senior Editor of American Greatness. She holds an M.A. in political philosophy and American politics from the Claremont Graduate University. She was an Earhart Fellow and a Bradley Foundation Fellow while studying at Claremont and also earned a Publius Fellowship from The Claremont Institute. Formerly the Director of Academic Programs at the Claremont Institute, she also taught American politics at Azusa Pacific University. Her writing has appeared in the Claremont Review of Books, The Online Library of Law and Liberty, The Columbus Dispatch, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Washington Times. She was also a regular and long-time contributor to the Ashbrook Center's blog, No Left Turns. She lives in California. You can follow her on Twitter at @JuliePonzi