new math? 52-47:
Looks like Obama will finish with roughly the same margin Bush had in 2004.
America is still a center-right nation. Even with a massive campaign financing advantage and adulatory media coverage, Obama still only managed a 5-point victory despite an extremely unpopular incumbent and a financial meltdown.
in a “50-50″ nation increasing a margin by 2 points is not trivial (bush won by 3). additionally obama, a supposed socialist, and certainly at least a moderate liberal, wins the majority of the vote and this is a “center-right” nation? i’m not a lefty-blogger, but they have a point when they say that it’s ridiculous not to acknowledge that we’ve lurched liberal as a nation. look at congress for god’s sake.
thabet 6:40 am on November 5, 2008 Permalink |
I knew there was a reason I disliked the Anglophone Centre-Right.
Just today, David Cameron is trying to compare himself to Barack Obama.
aziz 6:50 am on November 5, 2008 Permalink |
Obama won Indiana and Virginia. Thats rebuttal enough right there.
Haroon 8:21 am on November 5, 2008 Permalink |
I’d have to disagree somewhat. Many of those Democrats who ran and won in typically red states were social conservatives; while Obama handily won in California, Prop 8 came down to the wire.
We remain a conservative nation in many ways: Proposals to ban same-sex marriage moved ahead in places like Florida, although Florida went for Obama.
I don’t think one can say we “lurched liberal”; rather, the definition of conservative and liberal is changing — race is clearly less of a factor, but issues of social norms remain quite powerful.
razib 10:36 am on November 5, 2008 Permalink |
Many of those Democrats who ran and won in typically red states were social conservatives;
do you have data? i know *some* of them were, but what %? people just assert without breakdowns.
We remain a conservative nation in many ways: Proposals to ban same-sex marriage moved ahead in places like Florida, although Florida went for Obama.
conservatism means rejecting gay marriage and accepting civil unions. *that’s liberal*
at least socially.
I don’t think one can say we “lurched liberal”; rather, the definition of conservative and liberal is changing
this is probably true. but we’ll shift really radically in terms of economic policy. there’s a lot of regulatory crap that americans are too bored to ever pay attention too. that changes.