I’m already tired of the people who are crowing about how the Democrats are not in the mainstream or are such a minority — c’mon people, half of the electorate voted Democratic. Hardly out of the mainstream. But then, the Republicans have had a lot of trouble with math lately. After all, these are the people who pushed through enormous tax cuts in the midst of lowered revenues, and even though it resulted in the largest deficit in U.S. history, they insist that the tax cuts will bring in more revenue.
Anyway.
I’ve tried to look for any good news that may have come out of Tuesday’s election, and I think I’ve found another one: the losses of the Republicans. Let’s take a look at Virginia.
My state has been a solid Republican stronghold for about 40 years. The last time a Democratic candidate for president won here was Lyndon Johnson. Everyone assumed that Virginia was solidly in Bush’s column… but that turned out not to be the case. In fact, as the night wore on, it seemed more and more possible that Kerry might take the state. Didn’t happen, of course, but it was pretty close — 54% to 45%, a lot closer than anyone expected. More interesting, there were a number of counties where the Democrat prevailed, counties that usually go for the Republican. Here in Northern Virginia that means Fairfax County, where Kerry got 53%. The Washington Post chalks it up to the urbanization of that county.
It’s interesting — the real divide in this country turns out to be urban vs. rural.
Another example of the lack of a mandate or “out of the mainstream” democratic vote is a map I saw earlier today which showed the true vote. Maps of the electoral vote simply show red or blue depending on the ultimate winner — if Bush won by one vote, the state is red. Well, the real map shows that the country is solidly purple. Aggregating the data in such a simplified way just gives the impression that Bush was an overwhelming success. And thanks to the electoral college system, it’s misleading people into thinking that he has a mandate.
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