"..the Democratic Party's decline began the day it lost the middle class. "
The Democrat party lost the middle class when it became the redoubt of all the failed God-less philosophies that of time and history. Even if many Dem's weren't particularly religious they DID live in a nation whose legal and social moralities were so informed.
The Democrat party has become something out of a horror movie and as a consequence we have a Republican party that is a lot like the old democrat party but not quite so horriffic.
Also, look at how many votes Kerry got last time out. There is a split but I wouldn't call it very one sided. There are STILL a lot of them out there.
If you look at the red/blue map, you find that the Democrats win not only the inner city but also the toney suburbs near the city. Republicans win the suburbs and rural areas.Always stipulating that everything is really shades of purple . . .
The Democratic Party is the party of the rich and the poor, performing a pincer on the middle class. Rich Democrats patronize the middle class and the poor. Poor Democrats accept being patronized by rich Democrats, and take out their frustrations on the middle class, calling them "rich."
The middle class defends itself via the Republican Party. And if the Republican Party doesn't understand that - see the Kemp, Jack - it fails politically.