And, lo, the Saviour did descend from the mountain and save America, at least according to the media. But as we have come to expect there is very little truth in the news these days, aside from maybe the football scores and the date. It turns out that the 2008 Presidential Election was no different to 2004, save for the Donkeys being ascendant over the Elephants.
In the latest election report from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate they reveal that turnout may have risen by as much as <1%, with the same proportion of people voting. The estimation of the final figures seem to indicate that 28.7% voted Republican (down from 30% in ‘04) while 31.3% voted Democrat (up from 28.5% in ‘04). This was, according to AUCSAE, attributable to lower Republican turnout, (McCain’s failure to rouse the cultural wing and placate the moderate Republicans with a more tested VP pick), the over-hyping of a Democrat landside which depressed the GOP turnout further, and thirdly, the momentum being with the Democrats in much the same way as it had been with the Republicans in 2004. It is far easier to get-out-the-vote to those that are emotionally aligned.
Post Election the media has been subjecting us to a deeply misconceived notion of America based on this collection of election results. That America has somehow shifted to the left is deeply delusional, by its very nature the US remains a conservative nation; as post-election polling shows: 34% of people still consider themselves conservatives, compared with 22% liberals, the rest see themselves as moderates. The new dawn is nothing more than a media mirage.
And so we move on to 4 years hence and undoubtedly it will be the same all over again, no matter what the media tells us. It will just be another election, of yet another set of politicians, with the same result: another barrier to wealth creation and freedom for all. So in 2012, don’t believe the hype.
