[Dialogue] Re: [Oe List ...] Wow! Who Were Those Voters? What Now?

[Lee Early]

Here's an idea.  Instead of disrespecting all those who are not like 
"us" enlightened ones, why don't we define who WE are?  What is a 
liberal anyway?

If you are for fiscal responsibility, then, you are a liberal.
If you are for funding the so called no child left behind mandate, 
then, you a liberal.
If you are not for preemptive strikes against a sovereign nation who 
does not pose an imminent treat to you or to their neighbors, then, you 
are a liberal.
If you believe there are alternate means of power and that the 
government should support research into those means, then, you are a 
liberal.
If you believe - - - okay, now it's your turn.


Lee


On Nov 19, 2004, at 12:24 PM, David L. Thomas wrote:

> Who Were Those Voters?
>
> During the several months after the Democratic Convention, I could 
> hardly believe the polls that continually showed Bush in the lead.  I 
> was shocked that Bush and so many Republican senators and 
> representatives were elected. For several weeks, my major concern has 
> been, "Who are these voters-slightly over half of all who voted-that 
> preferred candidates that care little about peace, corporate 
> corruption, financial inequality, social programs, environment, 
> science and other liberal concerns.
>
> About half of the Republican supporters appear to be conservative 
> Christians, located disproportionately in the South. But my many 
> sources haven't clearly described the other half. They appear to be 
> disproportionately rural and small town and white male. They dislike 
> gun and other regulations, distrust government and care little for 
> government programs.
>
> I hypothesize that they may be libertarians, who enjoy the image of 
> the self-sufficient cowboy, the rogue policeman who violates his 
> departmental bureaucracy, and the superhero warrior. They want to be 
> unencumbered by regulations and taxes as they make it on their own. 
> Their community hardly extends beyond their own family and neighbors 
> like themselves. They patriotically place our country far above 
> others. Such thinking runs deep within America. Even many of us 
> liberals can appreciate many aspects of this simple image.
>
> These conservative Christian and libertarian cultural patterns are 
> what separate us from Canada, Europe and East Asian industrialized 
> countries. We are more accepting of war and financial inequality. We 
> tax ourselves less, especially our wealthy and offer lower quality 
> education, health and other social services, especially for our poor. 
> The results show up in our lower standings on many education and 
> health indicators, especially in many of the red states.
>
> This explains why the Kerry Campaign's attempt to emphasize social 
> issues never took hold. Nor did a nuanced approach to foreign policy. 
> So what must liberals do, other than wishing they could join the blue 
> states with Canada? Can we simply wait until Whites become a minority, 
> or will the Hispanic and other minorities also become Christian 
> conservatives or libertarians? Perhaps the difficulty of successfully 
> extracting our military from Iraq, a collapse of our debt-ridden 
> economy and increasing healthcare and retirement crises will reduce 
> support for the Republicans. But long term changes in our electorate 
> may be more important than short term electoral victories or losses, 
> although the two are related.
>
> I don't know the answers. It is difficult to wait, even when events 
> seem beyond control. But watching and waiting may sometimes be better 
> than hitting the wall harder. I would much enjoy receiving other 
> insights concerning our electorate and our response. Dave Thomas
>
>
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