A Divided America?

A look at the real culprits behind the negative politics

By Ben Chapman
Posted on 11/10/04

For the past year and a half, the American public has been inculcated by the media that the United States is a divided country, due in part to the war in Iraq. However, since Tuesday, November 2, 2004, we have had a very different picture of the American electorate.

Voter turn-out increased by 20% from the 2000 election. While the election was not a landslide, was not close either. In the national popular vote, Bush won 51% as opposed to Kerry’s 48%, a healthy three point margin. The media predicted a situation like four years ago, in which a candidate would barely win by half a million popular votes. Bush won by more votes than any other candidate in US history, picked up seven million more votes than in 2000, and is the first president since 1988—the first Bush!—to win a majority of the popular vote.

In the battle ground states we see more of the same: record voter turn-out and decisive Bush victories. In Florida, infamous state from the 2000 election, Bush won 52% to Kerry’s 47%. In Ohio, the last battleground state of this election, Bush won 51% to 49%. There was no room for the confusion of the last presidential election.

By ethnicity, race, and religion, Bush picked up more votes. He closed the male-female political gap, garnering 48% of women voters—a gain of five points from 2000. Among African-Americans, Bush gained two percentage points. Among Asian-Americans, Bush gained three percentage points. Even among Jews, Bush picked up a healthy 6% more of their votes.

What accounts for this discrepancy between the illusion fostered by the Left, and the actual will of the American people? Here are some possibilities:

The journalists, Democrats, movie stars, and other liberal elites never forgave Bush for winning the election in 2000. Despite Bush’s initial bipartisan efforts, such as the No Child Left Behind Act—which Senator Ted Kennedy endorsed—Bush still encountered obstacles hurled from his relentless opposition. The media portrayed deeper public division over the war in Iraq than really existed; 76% of Americans approved of the war in March 2003. Also, massive negative media coverage portrayed only the negative images out of Iraq, instead of the thousands of schools and hospitals reopening, and the ceremonies of the transfer of power to the provisional Iraqi authorities. There were far more stories about Abu Ghraib than about the Oil for Food scandal in the United Nations. Sadly, there was very little coverage of the free elections in Afghanistan. Yet the American people saw through all the negativity.

Another explanation is that John Kerry did not present himself as a viable alternative. He talked about the “politics of hope” but instead delivered the politics of complaint and negativity. He talked about a plan but never elaborated, and he set unrealistic goals, such as getting French and German troops into Iraq and lowering the deficit while massively increasing spending to fund his proposed government programs. His promises to raise taxes on the “wealthy”—in reality, small business owners and entrepreneurs—did not help his case much either. Also, John Kerry’s “supporters” didn’t really support John Kerry; they just hated Bush. But these politics of hate have no place in the White House. Kerry may not be a negative person, but that is the image he inadvertently portrayed, and the American people saw that.

Some positive points to be made about this election are the record voter turn-out, the unequivocal victory of one candidate, and the graciousness of both candidates. Kerry said it best in his concession speech: it is time to start the healing. And Bush in his victory speech reached out to his opponents, even complimenting them on the fine work they did over the course of the campaign. Both candidates conducted themselves as mature adults who truly desire the best for the country, despite their differences. If, as some suggest, this really is an era of divided politics, such positive behavior on both sides of the fence will help bring it to an end.

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