Jimmy Carter's Lament

Via Matt Yglesias, Nate Silver has a piece on the racial makeup of the Democratic and Republican parties. Among other things he says:

Consider this remarkable statistic. In 1980, 32 percent of the electorate consisted of white Democrats (or at least white Carter voters) -- likewise, in 2008, 32 percent of the electorate consisted of white Obama voters. But whereas, in 1980, just 9 percent of the electorate were nonwhite Carter voters, 21 percent of the electorate were nonwhite Obama voters last year. Thus, Carter went down to a landslide defeat, whereas Obama defeated John McCain by a healthy margin.

This is really why Republicans are in so much trouble. Demographics are working overwhelmingly against them, and their answer to the problem is to attack Supreme Court nominees almost entirely on racial grounds.

There is always a chance that a catastrophic performance by Obama leads the Republicans back to power, but for the next few years that would seem to be about their only avenue if they are intent on not changing.