Friday, November 05, 2004
Babes and Punjabis
For ever and ever the trendies, the sophisticates and the beautiful people have painted us on the right side of politics as boring squares, joyless fanatics, religious nutcases, and monoethnic bigots. It was never true, but hey, the control of the New York-Harvard-Hollywood axis of moral and cultural superiority is a powerful tool in shaping public perceptions.
I keep coming back to the CNN exit poll, and even if it's not 100 per cent accurate, it still paints an interesting picture of the Republican support across the nation. Sure, a lot of white Americans voted Republican once again, but this year 2% more African-Americans supported Bush (11%) than in 2000, 9% more Latinos (44%), and 3% more Asian-Americans (44%). And yep, there's a strong Protestant base to the GOP, but this year 5% more Catholics voted for Bush, giving him 52% support over their co-religionist Kerry's 47%. Religious Jews still vote overwhelmingly Democrat, but even in that group Bush scored 25% support at the election, up by 6% since 2000. There's even a few more percent of non-church-goers who also voted for that fanatical fundamentalist Bush. And almost one quarter of gay Americans voted Republican, too.
In another sign of change, increasing number of celebrities are not afraid to reveal their Republican affiliations or sympathies. Not that it really matters - as Mark Steyn writes in today's "Australian", the Dem's celeb culture is an electoral liability for them - but while it won't win the GOP any extra votes in the real world, it does break one of the most entrenched and powerful stereotypes ou there - that the glamorous, the talented, the artistic and the creative ones are of necessity exclusively on the left.
And - not that its matters at all - but the Republicans are having more and more babes. Thanks to New Jersey GOP for their public service in bringing all the right-wing babes to our attention (no nudity, but not quite work-friendly if your employer objects to bikini photos), and thanks to Alastair for bringing it to my attention.
A lot more importantly, as the CNN numbers show, just as the United States is becoming less White, less Anglo-Saxon and less Protestant, the Republicans are demonstarting that they can attract and appeal to an increasing number of ethnic and religious groups. The Democrats might have their new rising star in Barack Obama, but the Republicans have just elected Indian-American Piyush "Bobby" Jindal to Congress from, all places, Louisiana (hat tip: Bruce).
If there is one great side-effect of the 2004 presidential campaign, it's that the richness and diversity of all those across America who share a passionate belief in strong and principled foreign policy and a prosperous, healthy society at home, has finally been revealed.
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I keep coming back to the CNN exit poll, and even if it's not 100 per cent accurate, it still paints an interesting picture of the Republican support across the nation. Sure, a lot of white Americans voted Republican once again, but this year 2% more African-Americans supported Bush (11%) than in 2000, 9% more Latinos (44%), and 3% more Asian-Americans (44%). And yep, there's a strong Protestant base to the GOP, but this year 5% more Catholics voted for Bush, giving him 52% support over their co-religionist Kerry's 47%. Religious Jews still vote overwhelmingly Democrat, but even in that group Bush scored 25% support at the election, up by 6% since 2000. There's even a few more percent of non-church-goers who also voted for that fanatical fundamentalist Bush. And almost one quarter of gay Americans voted Republican, too.
In another sign of change, increasing number of celebrities are not afraid to reveal their Republican affiliations or sympathies. Not that it really matters - as Mark Steyn writes in today's "Australian", the Dem's celeb culture is an electoral liability for them - but while it won't win the GOP any extra votes in the real world, it does break one of the most entrenched and powerful stereotypes ou there - that the glamorous, the talented, the artistic and the creative ones are of necessity exclusively on the left.
And - not that its matters at all - but the Republicans are having more and more babes. Thanks to New Jersey GOP for their public service in bringing all the right-wing babes to our attention (no nudity, but not quite work-friendly if your employer objects to bikini photos), and thanks to Alastair for bringing it to my attention.
A lot more importantly, as the CNN numbers show, just as the United States is becoming less White, less Anglo-Saxon and less Protestant, the Republicans are demonstarting that they can attract and appeal to an increasing number of ethnic and religious groups. The Democrats might have their new rising star in Barack Obama, but the Republicans have just elected Indian-American Piyush "Bobby" Jindal to Congress from, all places, Louisiana (hat tip: Bruce).
If there is one great side-effect of the 2004 presidential campaign, it's that the richness and diversity of all those across America who share a passionate belief in strong and principled foreign policy and a prosperous, healthy society at home, has finally been revealed.
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