Are Democrats Really the Party of Urban America?

Writing for Salon, Doig wishes that the Democratic Party would defend "urban values", noting that " a party that's quietly and apologetically pro-city is not really a pro-city party at all." He writes,

"Today, both sides of the aisle save their shout-outs for working moms, Main Street and "pain at the pump." We hear about families struggling with mortgage payments, not tenants worried about the rent. Political ads are soaked in images of small-town storefronts, porches and rolling farmland. Positive discourse about urban values is so nonexistent that the very phrase "urban values" sounds weird.

Imagine a Cities Party with a rabble-rousing candidate who speaks for cities, someone who's more concerned with urbanizing the debate than ultimately winning the White House. An outspoken advocate who's not afraid to say that density is good and that gas is way too cheap, and passionately argue that mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, inner-city schools, and issues that deeply affect cities - like pollution and homelessness - deserve more airtime.

[But] the system is stacked against the cities, and no politician in either major party is going to give cities the attention that a Cities Party candidate could."