Explain this! A short comment before getting to the main thrust of this posting: We think Kerry did as well as expected, given the state of the electorate. It was
not a case of Kerry doing much worse than Democrats in general (witness the Senate pick-ups). It was, in our view, simply that the Democrat's positions on a range of issues - fiscal prudence, progressive taxation on all income, multilaterist foreign policy, civil rights, tolerance, taking science seriously, and economic regulation of the welfare capitalist state - were deemed "liberal-secular-empirical" and inappropriate for these times. We think that those positions are meritorious and should not be adjusted.
There is talk about how the Democrats have to embrace either religion or Social Darwinism - both the property of the Republicans - in order to succeed at the ballot box. We don't buy it. The Republicans in Washington are ideologues and so far their policies haven't hurt most Americans. Remember, the Iraq War has hardly affected the public. No taxes were raised. No draft was called. Similarly, the twin deficits have yet to make their impact. So the Republicans can indulge in their foolishness for a while. But eventually the hard impact will be felt and only then will the public see what they have wrought. Until that time, it's folly to try and imitate the snake-oil salesmen. Of course, the Democrats should still do more in terms of developing more of a voice through think-tanks, media presence, and organization.
That said, did you know that Kerry did worse in Florida than the Democrat who was running for a Senate seat? Here are the results:
Florida
vote for President:
R - Bush 3,838,376 52%
D - Kerry 3,460,867 47%
Florida
vote for Senate:
R - Martinez 3,553,450 50%
D - Castor 3,472,424 48%
How do you explain that Kerry was 5% behind Bush, yet the Democrat Castor was 2% behind Martinez? Was it that the Jewish vote went in part to Bush because of his (largely favorable to Israel) policies in the Middle East? We don't know, but it's something to contemplate.
posted by Quiddity at 11/03/2004 10:10:00 PM
total votes for senate and president don't add up.
Senate vote total
3588011 + 3522373 + 163803
= 7274187
presidential total
3874833 + 3511749 + 32336 + 11831 + 6568 + 3890 + 3500 + 2741
= 7447448
difference of 173261
It's because there are people who vote for president and nothing else.
Looking at the results of the election in general, I noticed that some 9% of all registered Democrats voted against Kerry, while only 6% of all registered Republicans voted against Bush. As a Democrat I think it's time we realize that we are slowly losing our base, yet I still have problems figuring out why. The fact that some people in this country think Gay marriage is more important than the economy overall just puzzles me. But then again, maybe I am the typical East Coast liberal which a good portion of the South hate so much.
