Conversations on Election day:
“Don’t tell me you’re a Republican.”
“Sure I am,” I responded. “Been a contributing member of the party for awhile.”
“Not me,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I have two kids and I don’t want to see them get drafted.”
“So who are you voting for?” I asked, knowing the completely idiotic answer I was about to get.
“Kerry.”
“Wrong party, S**” I said. “If you want your kid to not be drafted you may want to vote for the party that has already said numerous times they don’t want a draft, instead of the party that has introduced a bill to have it returned.”
“We all know who wants it.”
“Yes we do, the party that introduced it; the party of Charlie Rangel.”
“President Bush wants the draft back. You’ll see.”
It’s amazing what people believe. Contrary to the fact that Rangel and seven of his closest Democratic friends are the ones who introduced the bill, the machine of Democrats and the media spun this thing so well that the facts are ignored and the Republicans are painted as draft desirers. Think about that for a few. The Republicans are saying they don’t want it. They put it up for a vote in the house and vote it down by hundreds of votes. Charlie Rangel actually introduced the bill, Republicans denied it and voted against it, and this guy still believes that if Bush is re-elected, his kid’s gonna get drafted.
I only bring this up because there has been a prevailing sense among the mourning libs in this country that somehow Bush “tricked” people who were really stupid into voting for him. I find that incredibly amusing. Especially considering most of the arguments of the “smart” people who weren’t “fooled” are so base (and baseless) and stupid that you’d have to be a complete idiot to believe them.
I’ve heard it all. The “Jesusland” shmuck. The “Reap what we sow” shmucks. The “Redneck” shmucks. No one can admit that the President won the hearts and minds of people. Nope, if we voted for him we’re stupid and we were tricked.
As I’ve said before: This is why the Democrats haven’t won an election since 1996. They have no idea what people empathize with. Strategists will try to catch ligthning in a bottle with this election in 2006 and in 2008. We’ll hear numerous strategists talk about the “God” vote, as if God was something that you can just manufacture. We’ll hear about the “moral value” vote and the “family” vote all the while we’re talking about abortion on demand and gay marriage as if it’s just an everyday thing. Morals, after all, are secondary to tolerance. You can’t believe anything; it makes you a bigot. You can’t criticize anything; it makes you judgmental.
The Left in this country has a major problem, and that’s that aside from a few small population clusters on the east and west coast, the rest of the country isn’t buying what they’re selling. Look at the election map that shows votes by county. The Democrat argument over the last few days is that every single red county on that map is inhabited by stupid people. The condescension of these folks toward average americans is incredible, considering they wear the costume of those that are for the common man.
The common man doesn’t live in New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco. Surely some do, but the common man lives in Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, and in the Carolinas.
The common man believes in God, goes to church on Sunday, and cares about his faith. The common man does not deride the faith of others, call people stupid for following it, or disregard it for political expediency.
The common man believes that life is precious. The common man does not think women are removing a wart when they have an abortion.
The common man believes that hard work is its own reward and is taken by oneself, not given to a person by some divine right of the government.
The common man believes a hard worker is a hard worker, and should not be given an easier time or lower expectations because of the color of their skin.
The common man believes that love of their country and the flag that flies over it is a beautiful thing, not something to be derisively mentioned as jingoism and hubris.
That’s the common man, and the common man lives in the red states. The ones that the John Kerrys and Teresa Heinz Kerry’s fly over on their trips from coast to coast. The kind that eat Wendy’s Chili and know what it is on the menu and don’t have foie gras in their car when they’re done eating there.
That’s the common man.
You can scare them with the draft, you can scare them with their jobs, and you can scare them with social security, but the common man knows a used car salesman when they see one.
In New York and in California, the common man votes for these kind of people.
In the Red States, which decided this election, the common man voted for the other guy.
Not because they’re stupid, racist, scared, or bigoted, but because they identify with him.
Until Democrats understand that, they’re destined to continue the streak of losing elections and becoming more and more irrelevant.