Wojtek Sokolowski writes:
> If you think that the "working masses" in this country are about to
> embrace
> anything even mildly left of the center - think twice, visit your local
> Wal-Mart, Gander Mt., or Target super center, or a bowling alley, or a
> flea-market, or a volunteer fire company, or a Cineplex showing the newest
> sequel of the Star Wars for that matter, and then think again.
>
> The only oases where anything left-of-the center still manages to hold to
> its dear life in this country are college campuses and bohemian quarters
> in
> a few larger cities - not to mention a few remaining holdouts in the
> Democratic party which will soon be voted out existence by this good
> god-fearing and celebrity-venerating folk.
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But how does this square, for example, with the latest NBC/Wall Street
Journal poll showing Americans by 47% to 40% want to see a Democratic rather
than Republican Congress in 2006? According to NBC, the survey shows "that
Americans are upset with Congress focusing on the battle over judges, Social
Security, trying to restore Terri Schiavo's feeding tube and the ethical
troubles surrounding their members, including Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas,
instead of focusing on the economy, gas prices and health care."
Full:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7899754/
Other polls report similar findings, including predominantly left- rather than right-of-centre views on Iraq and other foreign policy issues. Polls aren't everything, but they do cause me to question your basic premise. I think you're closer to the present reality of American politics than ChuckO is, unfortunately, but you still seem to extrapolate too much from your observations of conservative Small Town America and give insufficient weight to the larger, more diverse, and liberal-minded population centres like New York, Chicago, SF, LA, Atlanta, St. Louis, etc. So far as I know, the metro areas of these cities are growing, not shrinking, and immigration into other than university neighbourhoods is making them more liberal, not less. Is this not so?
MG