What Else Should I Be?/All Apologies

Early Political Theory seems to be the launching point for many of my posts lately. That is a testimony to the quality of the class. If you want to hear Dr. Hailey speak at length, just say the word "election" and off he goes. Today in class we managed to completely avoid the assigned topic, the political philosophy of Augustine in City of God, and we talked about the election for the second straight class.

We spoke at length about the high percentage of voters who listed "values" as the most important reason to vote. The vast majority of those voters cast their ballots for President Bush. In 11 states there was a ballot initiative concerning the definition of marriage. In each state the voters responded strongly that marriage should be defined as a man and a woman. The closest margin was 57% to 43% in Oregon, which was a state won by Senator Kerry.

If one looks at the electoral map from the election, you will see that the nation is a broad sweep of red with blue on the coastal fringes and around the Great Lakes. These "blue" states contain the three largest cities in America and the vast majority of large media and entertainment outlets. The rest of the nation is simply a flyover zone, that is not relevant to the political future of America. At a Democratic fundraiser in Hollywood, Senator Kerry said, "This is America," as he raised his hands to indicate those assembled in the room. This is what the New York Times and other admittedly left-leaning media outlets would have you believe, but the voters of America responded that this is not true.

The Democratic party now stands at a critical crossroads. Will they continue down the path to becoming a party that caters to social and intellectual elites in New York and LA or will they go back to the days of FDR and become the party of the little man? The next few years will be critical for the party's work to regain stature and relevance.