Thursday, May 03, 2007
America's Great Leap Left
America has been decades been substantially more conservative then the rest of the developed world. This conservative tilt in American politics is coming to a end and a generation long shift to the left is beginning.
One of the goals of the Bush administration was to make the Republicans into the permanent ruling party in America. This has backfired spectacularly. Today, the Democrats enjoy a 30 point lead over the Republicans among the under 30's. Given that that is the age when most people form their life long political affiliations, the democrats have gained an electoral advantage over Republicans that can last a generation.
This has happened before. The Great Depression happened under a Republican President, Herbert Hoover, and it haunted the Republican's for a generation. George Will recently commented on this:
Further more the Democrats are stronger then the republicans on the issues that the younger voters care about. In particular, Republicans have been obstructing any attempts to tackle Climate Change, which is the hot button issue for younger voters. Should the Democrats forcefully seize this issue, younger voters will be thanking them for the next 40 years.
Even the older voters may be up for grabs as well. Health care costs are ballooning to the point that the median American household is being hurt financially by regular health care costs, let alone the costs of major emergencies. This effect is being felt across all of middle America and is fuelling a middle class revolt. Should the Democrats seize this issue, they can also expect to own the support of the Baby Boomers for at least a decade.
All of this suggests a sustain shift away from the conservative politics that has dominated America since Ronald Reagan was elected. The rest of the world is looking forward to the return of a sane America. It is about time.
One of the goals of the Bush administration was to make the Republicans into the permanent ruling party in America. This has backfired spectacularly. Today, the Democrats enjoy a 30 point lead over the Republicans among the under 30's. Given that that is the age when most people form their life long political affiliations, the democrats have gained an electoral advantage over Republicans that can last a generation.
This has happened before. The Great Depression happened under a Republican President, Herbert Hoover, and it haunted the Republican's for a generation. George Will recently commented on this:
[It] took 30, 40 years for the Republican Party to get out from under Herbert Hoover. People would say, "Are you going to vote for Nixon in '60?" "No, I don't like Hoover."
Further more the Democrats are stronger then the republicans on the issues that the younger voters care about. In particular, Republicans have been obstructing any attempts to tackle Climate Change, which is the hot button issue for younger voters. Should the Democrats forcefully seize this issue, younger voters will be thanking them for the next 40 years.
Even the older voters may be up for grabs as well. Health care costs are ballooning to the point that the median American household is being hurt financially by regular health care costs, let alone the costs of major emergencies. This effect is being felt across all of middle America and is fuelling a middle class revolt. Should the Democrats seize this issue, they can also expect to own the support of the Baby Boomers for at least a decade.
All of this suggests a sustain shift away from the conservative politics that has dominated America since Ronald Reagan was elected. The rest of the world is looking forward to the return of a sane America. It is about time.
