Posted on 11/06/2004 5:37:48 AM PST by Clive
Ben Affleck changed the world this week.
No, of course I don't mean that a tedious movie star actually changed international events. I mean that he personifies why George Bush and the Republicans won the election.
They won because Middle America bit back. Simple as that.
Middle America bit back. The abused, the marginalized and the mocked decided that they had had enough. Those taken for granted, those patronized, those treated with disdain voted to no longer play the silent victim.
For months a daft coalition of the extremely willing played their guitars, sang their songs and read their Hollywood statements about Iraq, oil, the evil George Bush and the foolishness of the American people. They would deny, of course, that they accused their fellow Americans of being stupid, but this is precisely what they did.
True understanding and enlightenment, it seemed, only came after you'd appeared in a sequel to a superhero movie or seen your last album go platinum. Bruce Springsteen might claim to be an ordinary working man, but ordinary working men don't have bank accounts the size of Rhode Island.
The assembled pop stars and actors meant no harm when they demanded that Americans vote Democrat, but what they were really saying was that only certain people really get it. Michael Moore got it. Rosie O'Donnell got it. Academics at universities got it. Howard Stern got it.
Yes, Howard Stern. America listened to Stern and his giggling sidekick explain why only a "retard" would vote for George Bush. In between fart noises and references to naked lesbians, this tired peddler of smut made fun of people who spoke with southern accents and voted on "moral issues."
The clever people at the mainstream television networks, the stylish types in New York and Los Angeles, the icons of glamour and glitz all said that John Kerry was the only choice for a person with any intelligence. As for those ignorant evangelicals, those stupid church-going Catholics, those family-values fools, those dumb redneck hicks, they weren't real Americans.
Then, in the smiling twilight of the new political morning, the unwashed told their betters to shove it.
They realized that their kind were smart and sophisticated enough to storm the beaches of Normandy and wrestle Europe from the Nazis and Asia from the Japanese fascists. They realized that they were suave and urbane enough to work the farms, make the cars, drive the cabs, do the work.
An epiphany
Middle America experienced an epiphany. We are not bigots or yokels just because we believe in the family and in traditional virtues and values. We are not hateful merely because we support our troops and cry when we hear the national anthem.
Working-class Americans began to ask some questions. They wondered why wealthy, white entertainers, artists and, I'm sure, freelance manufacturers of organic yogurt, were announcing that they would leave the United States if George Bush won the election.
Imagine that. If democracy didn't provide the result they wanted, these selfish rich kids would run away to Canada or Britain.
Is that patriotism? Middle America didn't remember Republicans threatening to leave when Bill Clinton won a second term.
Middle America grew tired of the insults. We're not voting out of fear, they said, we don't accept every word we hear from the government and we're not so easily manipulated. Stop telling us that we don't understand what's going on.
We've raised kids and paid mortgages and we resent listening to lectures, especially when delivered by an actress with a vacant smile and a copy of Socialism For Beginners.
Tired of the critics
Middle America shouted its impatience. It wasn't that it so liked George Bush, more that it was so tired of Bush's critics.
Middle America remembered a time when actors, singers and writers reflected the nation. These performers no longer aspired to reflect but to reshape it in their own narcissistic image.
John Kerry was too close to that clan, too much part of the culture of smug assumption.
It wasn't George Bush who was the victor last week, but men and women who stood up and announced to the self-defined elites that "the people" is not a concept but a flesh-and-blood reality. And one that bites back.
Your sentiment is true for virtually ALL Republicans/conservatives. However, that statement by the author nails it when it comes to fence-sitters, indies, undecideds, etc.
I've been trying to find something to use as a tagline and Mr. Coren gave it to me. Thank you.
Fact #1: Orange County, the second largest county in Calif after LA, had the second highest voting percentage for Bush (60%). Fact #2: the epicenter of OC, in terms of wealth and Republican values, is Newport Beach. Fact #3: the TV show "The OC" that depicts wealthy fabulous lifestyles led by beautiful people is really about Newport Beach. (And even though it is highly fictionalized, it does portray the scene pretty accurately.)
So, how does this play with the conventional wisdom? The fact is, the Repubs are still the party of wealthy and middle-class families that value individuality and freedom as their central tenents.
Great read! Thanks for posting it. :-)
Maybe the Dims should try to "get into" our heads. Then they will realize not to take us for granted. That party has become so socialist that it's hard to recognize the democratic party anymore.
Wow. Bravo, Mr. Coren.
It needs a little editing.
Dear OpusatFR,
"'Middle America shouted its impatience. It wasn't that it so liked George Bush, more that it was so tired of Bush's critics.'
"Oh Good Grief. Here's another one who doesn't get it. I could care less and certainly don't listen to celebrities with less education, experience, and knowledge than I.
"I LIKE GWB. I approve of his worldview and his tactics. I believe that he is taking the world on a journey that will free it from not only the facism that pervades Islam, but also wrenching the world back from the brink of socialism and Marxist ideology."
The column generalizes, and like all good generalizations, it isn't true in every specific case. I like W, too. And this may be the weakest part of the column.
Nonetheless, there are a lot of things that President Bush has done that have given me pause. No Child Left Behind Act. Increased spending on NEA. McCain-Feingold. Immigration policy. Compromise on embryonic stem cell research.
We could go on. There are plenty of reasons why conservatives might be a little uneasy with W. And the truth is, a lot of mushy-middle Americans are uneasy with him, too. But many politically-moderate folks are squishy on George for the same reasons why conservatives stuck with him. I'm 100% behind the war on terror, the war in Afaghanistan, the war in Iraq. I look forward to lower taxes, permanent tax cuts, Social Security reform, Federal Marriage Amendment, school choice, etc.
But a lot of mushy-middle Americans are scared by some of these very same things, and are comforted by the very things that upset conservatives. The support President Bush enjoys is from a coalition of conservatives and moderates that in many ways are very much in tension with each other. He has presided over, and expanded, that coalition successfully, but not always with an abundance of grace.
As much as I vote FOR George W. Bush, I was also pretty much an ABK voter, as well: Anybody But Kerry. I think that this author picks up on that.
sitetest
Surprisingly, the BBC did a great piece the day after the elections, sounding this theme also. They talked about how the New York/Boston/D.C/L.A./liberal elite has either ignored or put down the rest of America. And that's why the Dems are in trouble.
Surprisingly, the BBC did a great piece the day after the elections, sounding this theme also. They talked about how the New York/Boston/D.C/L.A./liberal elite has either ignored or put down the rest of America. And that's why the Dems are in trouble.
And remember, cream isn't the only thing that floats to the top--a lot of that floating around Hollywierd along with the cream!!
This is a great article exept they still don't get it that we voted because WE LIKE GEORGE BUSH! Not just like him. We love what he stands for and the way he LEADS! IMHO that is.
I can support a man I don't always agree with- I can't support a man I can't trust.
I'm a Dem from the Upper West Side of NYC,and I can tell you that the "concerted hate campaign of the Left" drove me smack into the arms of GW. First time I ever voted for a Republican president.
These people are unbelievably naive or something to that effect.
Of course people LIKE Bush, that's why he won.
The left is getting MORE delusional as time passes. It's going to be really hard for mainstream, sane dems to distance themselves from this lot of losers the longer they are willing to associate with them.
Good riddance dipstix!
Dear alice_in_bubbaland,
The Dammocraps may be too far gone. I'm not sure that Satan will release them from his death-loving grasp. I'm not sure that they will ever give up on abortion, euthanasia, homosexual politics, Islamofascist love, etc. I think it is just as likely that the Dammocrap party will continue a long, slow decline, and be replaced eventually by something else.
sitetest
Also, more people in the states of Connecticut,Massachusetts and New York voted for Bush this time than they did in 2000.
walkin' on the fightin' side of me
Runnin' down the way of life
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep
If you don't love it, leave it
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'
If you're runnin' down my country man
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me
Merle Haggard
Dear somerville,
Perhaps it is that those with a little bit of distance, and perspective, can see from afar what the Dammocraps can't see that is in right in front of their noses.
sitetest
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