Axelrod viewed urban politics as “the most visceral and interesting.” Implicit in this judgment is the fact that cities are tribal, all the more so as urban politics becomes less about black-white relations and more about competition between multiple ethnic groups and hues in the face of income stratification and self-segregation. “Brazilification” has come to the United States. Looking at things granularly, of America’s 35 largest cities, 28 have Democratic mayors.
And it is not just Republican candidates who fare poorly in urban elections but Republican operatives as well. While the latter are aware of America’s racial divides, they are less adept than Democratic operatives at addressing inter-ethnic rivalries. By contrast, Axelrod would learn to be painstaking at finding just the right accent and dialect for Spanish-language radio ads.
Read more: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/david-axelrods-multiethnic-machine/