Well, it’s taken me a while because frankly, I needed to formulate a response. I’m not going to be one of those people who’s jumping on the voting machines as the reason that the good guys once again ended up on the short end of the stick, but they likely did not help. After a lot of thinking, the only thing I can figure is either we are out of touch with the American people, or the American people are out of touch with reality. More likely though, this election was simply an example of the power of fear, closed mindedness, and good old American bigotry. What’s this you say? Well, once again the right chose to attack the easiest target in America: gays.
It’s not that I think the US is full of bigots, rather, I believe this election played on the fears of the unknown, and of the different. As a consequence, we saw eleven states pass bans on gay marriage (including here in Oregon). This was no surprise. Did anyone actually think that Mississippi would vote down a ban on gays marrying? The key point is that in Ohio, which essentially decided the presidential election, the gay marriage ban passed by a 2 to 1 margin. This of course is a good indication of why Ohio, and ultimately the election, was lost. After all, Oregon and Michigan were the only states to vote Kerry, and pass a gay marriage ban – and Kerry victories in both were far from comfortable. What does all this mean? It means that, as they promised, the right did a very good job of getting out the evangelical vote.
But it’s not only evangelicals who voted for these measures, and ultimately for Bush. In the end, Bush’s team did a great job of scaring the hell out of people. Osama made an appearance shortly before the election, and suddenly, Kerry could not protect us from him (never mind the fact that Bush has no clue where Osama is…). Bush convinced a lot of people that it just wouldn’t be prudent to change leaders in the middle of a war (although it is clear this war is being severely mismanaged). And, unfathomably, the Bush team convinced a good number of Americans that he actually shares their values.
So, what you have are scores of poor southerners voting against abortion and gays, and in effect supporting the fact that they have no health care. You have former factory workers in the rust belt supporting a heavy-handed, ultra-aggressive US foreign policy, and turning a blind eye to the fact that their former job just isn’t coming back. And in the mountain west, you have scores of Mormons voting for Jesus-incarnate. OK, so that’s not exactly true, but you get the point… Basically, we’ve got some ground to cover.
Sometime in the next two years, the left must reconnect with the rest of the US. We must come up with a way to show everyone that an economic model built by liberals, where taxes are assessed fairly, where everyone pays proportionally to what they can afford, and where fiscal responsibility reigns supreme works best for Americans. We must make all Americans feel shame when any American grows ill or dies as a result of inadequate access to health care, and in turn convey the importance of guaranteeing health insurance for all Americans. Finally, we must make social conservatives actually respect the virtues they used to hold so high – namely fiscal responsibility, (this does not mean running up record deficits and slashing taxes in the middle of a war) a person’s right to privacy from the government (who cares what anyone does in their bedroom, so long as it’s not with either a kid or an animal?), and finally, freedom of, and from, religion (Jesus may be your savior, but Ahmed is an American too).
How are we to do this? I believe it all starts at a local level. Sure, everyone would love to find a Bill Clinton type who can show those in middle America that the democratic party is concerned about their well-being, and has their well-being in mind in policy decisions. But I feel it is much more important for local leaders to rise up and show the people that our ideas and beliefs are best for them at the nearest levels – on their water boards, their fish and game commissions, their city councils, school boards. We need to stick up for the small farmer and entrepreneur in state legislatures, while continuing to fight for the poor, the elderly, and the otherwise underrepresented.
Everyone knows at least one capable speaker with ideas and passion – get that person to make a difference, talk them in to running for office, or in being a visible member of a campaign or local organization. It doesn’t take much to be a “dynamic” speaker – just passion, ideas, and the ability to understand people – the last part only comes from listening, and living. This is an achievable goal. It may be pie in the sky, but I believe if we can all do our part, we can begin to create islands of blue across the big, red electoral map of the US, and ultimately, make a positive difference in not only the future of the nation, but in the daily lives of our neighbors.