Liberals Can't Win Nowadays

December 5, 2004 - The night of John Kerry's concession speech, I received a disconsolate phone call from my extremely intelligent, very successful brother-in-law from California.

He was severely depressed about President Bush's re-election. He explained to me how he knows of no one who was happy that Bush won.

My free-thinking brother-in-law looked to me for answers to solve the puzzle of why anyone would vote for Bush. You see, I am one of those mysterious rural, red-state voters. Considering we have spent countless hours of lively, intellectual debate on various issues, maybe now he is starting to realize why I tell him that his life among California tech elites is not the real world.

The issue of moral values has become the hot topic among the media talking heads since Bush won a convincing victory in last month's election.

Just who are these "Jesus lovers" who gave the president four more years because of moral values? The liberal media and the Democratic elites were convinced that an unpopular war in Iraq, the president misleading the people about WMDs, the exploding deficit, and the weak economy would give their man the victory.

In fact, if it weren't for the Iraq War quagmire, I believe that Bush would have won in a landslide, perhaps as high as 60 percent to 40 percent.

If you don't believe me, take a look at a U.S. map that breaks down the vote by county. It is astoundingly red.

The reactions of the media and folks of the liberal persuasion fascinate me. It amazes me that they really don't get it. I keep hearing the same question: "Just what are these moral values" that Bush's supporters are motivated by? The issues of gay marriage and abortion, even though widely cited as the main concerns of moral voters, are just a part of conservative backlash against too many perceived liberal changes in society.

"Where did these backward, God-fearing, lowlife rednecks come from?" ask bewildered liberals. "What country do I live in?"

Or: "I'm moving to Canada to escape these narrow-minded idiots." This sort of condescending, elitist attitude has really come back to haunt the Democratic Party. The party of tolerance has become intolerant of viewpoints contrary to its own liberal beliefs.

The majority of Bush supporters are not uneducated members of the radical religious right. Voters with undergraduate degrees preferred Bush 52 percent to 46 percent, according to a CNN exit poll. Many Republicans also hold moderate views on abortion, believe in equality for all, and are concerned about the environment.

Conservatives are becoming more inclusive as large percentages of Asian- and Hispanic-Americans are voting Republican. The three most powerful African-Americans (Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Clarence Thomas) in the nation are conservative Republicans. However, despite holding many conservative views, only 11 percent of blacks voted for Bush.

Also, the Republican Party is not comprised of just the affluent. A slight majority of regular middle-class Americans voted red. Even those citizens without a high-school diploma split their vote nearly evenly between Bush and Kerry. Why would blue-collar workers vote against their economic interests?

The perceived moral decay of this country is the key to understanding why these voters feel that the Republicans are the only option for the continued greatness of America.

This culture war is not new. It has been ablaze ever since the 1960s revolutionized our culture. While some aspects were positive, such as civil rights, conservatives saw many negatives that emerged because of the liberal-induced counterculture.

Most Americans are a giving, tolerant people, but forcing homosexual marriage upon them and taking God out of the Pledge took the country too far to the left.

Many Americans are still in shock that they can no longer ceremonialy pray at their child's graduation.

The Democrats will have a difficult time ever winning the presidency or gaining control of Congress if they don't get out of their Northeastern elitist ivory tower and pay attention to the awakening of the silent majority.

I was thinking about how to explain to my brother-in-law from California how red-state Americans feel about society in general. I conceived the idea of an easy-to-understand chart on how conservatives (Republicans) perceive their own party as compared with liberals (Democrats).

This chart is not supposed to be a scientific poll. It is based on my years of political observation, countless discussions, and personal insight. It is meant to be concise, simple, and full of generalizations.

This is done in order to try to understand the moral values that unite a large, diverse group of red-state voters. I am not suggesting that these beliefs are reality at all; the chart simply reflects many conservative Americans' perception of what the Democratic Party stands for.

Not all Republicans will agree with every observation; some Democrats will find some laughable or even ludicrous.

I'm confident that Democrats will want to create their own perception chart. Just remember, defending the Democratic Party as it is will not help your cause; you must reinvent the party.

One last hint: Allowing radical lefties such as Michael Moore and Al Sharpton to become the new faces of the party does not improve your image in the heartland.

Heed this warning, my liberal friends; ignore these perceptions of your party at your own peril.

Nominate Hillary Clinton or another Northeastern elite in 2008, and you will drown once more in a sea of red.