Weapons of Mass Delusion
I'm sure you can guess my mood today...
Here are a few things that give me hope:
1) Record voter turn-out: such civic participation is inspiring! 77% of eligible voters in the state of MN turned out - the highest since 1960.
2) 13 Rebulicans in the state legislature of MN lost their seats to Democrats, evening out the balance of parties. For those of you who don't know, our fine governor Tim Pawlenty, who claims to be a believer, has spent his first two years in office slashing the budgets of worthy social programs so that he doesn't have to raise any suburbians' taxes. I've seen the "on the front lines" results and it ain't been pretty.
3) It wasn't a landslide. Frankly, if you'd asked me three months ago what I thought would happen, I would have said that Kerry would be smashed. But the close call satisfies me that a significant portion of the US population has enough questions about Bush's policies and character to vote for another alternative. I hope this means I won't have to watch Bush gloat for the next four years.
Comments
I think it's also possible (if not evident) that people had enough questions about John Kerry's policies and character to not consider him a viable alternative. I think the Dems need to seriously evaluate the party's ideological center (particulary on national security??) to keep contending. Kerry was the party's nominee contending against an "unpopular" president after all. . .
Posted by: Sabrina | November 3, 2004 08:05 PM
I couldn't agree with you more on the Dems - but I would argue that, rather than national security, the critical issue (as evidenced by polls of voter motivation) is morality. I would dare to assert that poverty and its alleviation is a moral issue as is concern for orphans/widows/strangers, all of which the Dems have a history of action, but they have failed to stand on it, at least in recent years, for fear the neo-cons might call them liberals (what a dirty word!). I think Kerry's biggest flaw, as a politician, is that he failed to differentiate himself from Bush in any meaningful way. Paste the link below into your browser for Jim Wallis' thoughts, which I think summarize my own quite well. Or go to Jerry's blog for more rational commentary than mine (blog.umn.edu/shann039/confessions).
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=041103#3
Posted by: Sarah Shannon | November 3, 2004 10:11 PM
What you say is true. . . But I think the numbers from the election indicate the more mainstream morality issues of gay marriage, possibly stem cell research, possibly profession of faith have a major impact of voters. As much as I'd like to hope people back the war on terror for its ideological underpinnings (defeating evil, bringing freedom abroad), I'm realistic in understanding that it's mainly about feeling safe at home for most folks. Having said that, I think it would help the Dems to reembrace Joe Lieberman types and back away from Michael Moore. In any event, making space for the moral issues people vote on will be tricky for the party as it stands. (I love your blog Sarah. I'm sure Jerry's is good too, but your passion is hard to resist;)
Posted by: Sabrina | November 3, 2004 11:44 PM
Thanks, Sabrina. I'm not sure whether my "passion" is a blessing or a curse.
"Mainstream morality issues" -- who gets to define these? What enrages me (and my hubby, who has, by the way, banned himself from listening to NPR for a week in order to "defuse")is that many of us who are "freestyle evangelicals" are getting lumped in with the lot who seems to think that all Jesus cares about are our penises and vaginas and what we do with them. Meanwhile, thousands of verses in the Bible pertaining to poverty and defense of the defenseless go unheeded. It's very, very frustrating.
Owing to my conversations with you, in person and electronically, I've been doing some research on neoconservativism. I took a quiz at the link below, and guess what? I'm a LIBERAL! The questions really made me think. If anyone else is interested, here's a link to the quiz:
http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/quiz/neoconQuiz.html
Posted by: Sarah Shannon | November 4, 2004 12:20 PM