the media points to the election and says that it has divided the nation. I do not believe this. I think we have always been a divided nation. The only thing is that this is more obvious and more visible during times of war and during elections. There are underlying religious and racist factors that have always been prevalent in our country and though much has changed when the moment of truth comes upon they always come into play.
There is now a clear liberal and conservative standing among Americans. I mean there are people who hate politics and get broed to death, but they voted this year and they had their views that made them either very liberal or very conservative. In a sense, everyone showed their true colors this election.
That's weird though cause I've been hearing otherwise. Then again, it makes sense because if more young people would've voted then Kerry would be our president. It just seems that young people liked Kerry more than Bush. Actually they just hate Bush for whatever their reasons are.
Young people did come out for a change. But other demo groups came out in record numbers as well, so in there wasn't a gain among young people as a percentage of voters. As for the thread topic, no, the country isn't all that divided. If you look at the vote margins in different counties, rather than just the winners, most of the country ends up looking purple. There's a distinct urban vs suburban vs rural divide, but if you take a thousand people of similar socioeconomic status from a red state and a blue state, say suburbanites from North Carolina and New Jersey, they're not going to be too different. It's just that Jersey has a higher percentage of urban voters, who tend to skew blue. And even at the county level, the margin of victory for either side wasn't all that big.
Skip, I think there is quite a divide, mainly the urban v. suburban v. rural divide you mentioned. Depor15's right. It's always been there, and it may be stronger/wider than previously thought. If it wasn't before, it certainly will be now.
Right or wrong, I've found myself speeding towards the fringe. Before 2000, I considered myself a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. You know, a Democrat that would vote for McCain basically. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or just reading more or I just disagree with the extremism of the Bush administration so much but I've really become, by this countries standards, a left-wing loon. I don't believe in capitalism like I used to, I don't believe in our government like I used to and most of all I'm disgusted by the anti-intellectualism we see. Especially in regards to Christian fundamentalism which is a huge, probably the biggest, threat to this country in my eyes. Unique ideas, right or wrong, are denounced before they are even allowed to spawn. Current politicians are quite poor, right and left, and Carlin is right, they are a reflection of the populace, maybe politicians don't suck, we do. I don't know, maybe I just need to read Ayn Rand again and get back on the me first train.
Unique ideas like same sex marriage or live birth abortion? What's next? Euthanasia for mentally disabled or terminally ill children without parental consent? It's happening in the Netherlands. No thanks. I'll keep the "fundy" label. Someone needs to stem the tide.
It's not so much Christianity, but the politicization of Christianity to paint the opposition as anti-Christian and impose religious doctrines into secular law.
Exactly! There is no divide at all; it was just a wise decision by the majority of Americans that the immoral leftist liberals should just shut up and let the moral conservatives run the place for four more years! Seems very clear! IntheNet
He didn't say that. Isn't one of the commandments an instruction not to bear false witness against they neighbors? --------- I'm just getting tired of the tendency of people to change someone else's word to make a "point." Everyone time you do that, baby Jesus cries.
I suppose I could have worded it better. Yeah, there's definitely a divide between urban vs rural. But my point was that this isn't a regional divide. New York City votes differently from upstate, which is rural/suburban, and likewise, Cleveland votes one way while rural Ohio votes the other way. I think the only exceptions to this are places like Texas where even urban areas voted for Bush, and some parts of the Southwest where the Yellow Dog Democrat tradition still survives. Now, the suburban areas are the real battlegrounds, because that's where you have a Bush supporter living next door to a Kerry supporter.