A Divided Nation
By Shaik Ubaid
08 November, 2004
Countercurrents.org
One
of the things that has become clear with the 2004 elections is that
today America is a country divided against itself. President Bush and
Senator Kerry both have vowed to work towards bridging the divide. Chances
are they will not succeed as healing takes both time and efforts. Without
efforts time can actually make some psychological wounds fester.
This national divide
is a bitter one. Those on the right consider the Democrats to be out
of touch, unreligious if not anti-religious, elites who care more for
spotted owls and gay-marriages than they do for their fellow citizens.
Those on the left view the Republicans as religious extremists whose
shortsightedness and intolerance are exploited by greedy and inhuman
multinationals. This kind of stereotyping leads to demonization of the
other side.
Neither characterization merits unqualified attestation. A more realistic
surmise would be that the primaries based American electoral system
has enabled the radical wings of both parties, lavishly financed by
powerful lobbies of vested interests to gain disproportionate influence
and therefore dictate the agenda for the campaign within their respective
parties.
The entire election campaign was conducted in a negative atmosphere.
Fear was pitted against anger and being a more powerful drive, fear
won. Religious conviction was brought into play against part-time idealism
and conviction carried the day. Rural America scored over metropolitan
America and aging America won over the once-again-no-show young America.
In this closely contested election where the pundits were repeatedly
forced to eat dirt and where even the exit polls were proven wrong,
one person got it right. Karl Rove, who the President referred to as
the "architect" of his victory, firmly believed in the reality
of a divided America and converted that belief into successful campaign
strategy. He pitched the fear factor to charge and mobilize the Republican
base, the Christian conservatives. Fear of the terrorist, fear of America
being taken over by gay-marriage-loving liberals, fear of changing leadership
during times of war, fear that the eleventh commandment- thou shalt
amass assault rifles - will be abrogated, were all brought into play
and orchestrated to great effect.
The Democrats believed
that it would suffice to whip up the anger that their liberal base has
been nursing ever since the last election was stolen from
them. Their other calculation that went awry was that a larger number
of registered younger voters would counter the fear factor driven vote.
The pundits believed
in the conventional wisdom that increased voter turn out is a natural
anti incumbent phenomenon. This notion added to an undue faith in the
exit poll results led them to presume that Kerry would sweep the battleground
states. They failed to reckon with the war time fear factor.
Precisely at a time
when the widening divide demands heightened efforts to reach out to
the other, it is worrisome that the parties are not going to be run
by their moderate wings. This might well mean a lukewarm response at
best or as is more likely a complete disregard to acknowledge and address
the need for such efforts.
The Republican leadership
is already claiming a mandate to proceed with its right-wing policies.
In all likelihood they will attempt to do so causing more anger among
the Democrats. It is only inevitable that the radical left will exploit
this anger to gain ascendancy within the Democratic party. The vicious
cycle of negativity will thus continue. After all in the reactionary
laws of sociology and politics every reaction will have an increased
and opposite reaction.
The democrats have
been attempting to stem the rightward tilt of the country by aping the
economic policies and the social agenda of the right. What is needed
is that they reclaim the moral values while sticking with their traditional
plebeian policies in the areas of economics and sociology
What we need here
and now is an element of moral progressiveness to come into play. We
need individuals with a strong belief in morality and traditional values
enhanced by a progressive outlook on issues of poverty, healthcare human
rights and the environment.
The call must go
out for such individuals in the Democratic Party to assert themselves.
They will have eight years to prepare for the battle at the national
level. I say eight years, because John McCain most likely will win the
presidency by a landslide in 2008 with support from all sections of
the society. He may have to face a determined challenge from his Party's
right wing in the primaries but he can and will overcome it. After taking
office he will surely attempt to heal the nation. In spite of his proven
bipartisanship it may not be possible for him to prevail upon the right
wing leadership of his party. The nation will remain unhealed.
But this impasse
might prove to be an opportunity for the moderate and true compassionate
conservatives to gain a very desirable ascendancy in the Republican
party and the moral progressives to assume leadership among
the Democrats. The ideological divide will still be there but the political
discourse will thus become civil and positive.
If today the moral
progressives respond to the call of history in the making and recognize
their role as leaders and organizers, by 2012 they will definitely stand
a fair chance of being in a position to initiate the healing process
in this country.