Calling all Democrats! Calling all Republicans! Calling all of you conservatives and undecided who reside somewhere in the middle! Take a seat. It’s powwow time! Come election day, whose name will you find on the ballot? McCain is already there and gloating as he waits to confront his challenger. For the time being, the big choice is split between two. Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. For the first time in history, we have a black male and a white female, each with enough support to end up on the ballot and even the White House. Who is voting for who? I’ve hypothesized my own demographic system out of common sense and logic to gauge what kind of people are voting for what kind of candidate. What I say below is based on educated generalizations. I do not believe that every single Christian votes the same way or that all Democrats will vote only for their party. This blog focuses on the majority voting style of the United States population.
Let’s start with the largest and most biased voting group in the country. Their voting habits are about as predictable as the story of Jesus. (Let’s face it. He dies at the end.) Of course, you already know who I mean. The Christians their fanatical, ever growing sect of Evangelicals. One might say the Evangelicals lean slightly to the right. Others with the ability to make broader perceptions would say they fall head over heals. The Republican candidates will go to almost any length to prove that the will of God shall be present in every presidential action and that proper ethics will govern the nation. No more of that silly same-sex marriage nonsense and stem cell research for you! It’s back to churning butter, church four times a week, and history classes teaching stories about wise men, ladders, and whales. The Evangelicals eat this kind of stuff up. The promises can’t really be kept because of the little thing called the Constitution but that doesn‘t matter to them (since they probably don‘t know what it is beyond its name). Nonetheless, come election day, their vote goes to the right which in our case, is McCain. He has some of the less scary religious groups on his side too.
Republicans like money…a lot. It’s a known fact that majority of wealthy citizens in our country are Republicans. Why wouldn’t the wealthy like the idea of tax breaks when it will obviously help the working class. McCain’s campaign site even says that tax breaks will help the economy. Guns are another classic fancy of the Republicans. McCain openly voted against things such as waiting periods for gun sales to citizens and to lift the gun ban in DC (which is a very smart idea considering it’s only our capital.) I mean if McCain had his way already, legislation might be underway for gun racks to be installed in baby cribs.
Democrats have their own problems right now. Obama and Clinton are fighting each other like they were opposite party members. Barack is losing popularity right now anyway. He’ll be lucky if he can keep the African American vote which is currently the only large group of people supporting him. His goals and ideas are vague and weak as are his speeches. African Americans are predisposed to vote for him on the very basis that he’s black more than they are for how he is going to deal with our country’s issues. At least Clinton has a clearer agenda. Clinton is more likely to get the votes of environmentalists, freethinkers, atheists, some economists, a good portion of intellectuals, some liberals and some of the white working class population (especially women). If Obama doesn’t play his cards right, she may start to get some of African American vote too. Obama wants to open up the military to more people by adding it into the curriculum of middle and high schools as well as opening up parts of the armed forces to those over 55 years of age. Hilary makes a promise on her website to formulate a plan withdraw from Iraq within her first 60 days in office. Barack says he’ll bring back one to two brigades per months on his site but no exact dates are given. McCain feels we not only have no reason to pull out yet, but that there should be more troops sent in.
“A greater military commitment now is necessary if we are to achieve long-term success in Iraq. John McCain agrees with retired Army General Jack Keane that there are simply not enough American forces in Iraq.”
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/fdeb03a7-30b0-4ece-8e34-4c7ea...
Who would vote for someone like that? Right-winged Christians and Evangelicals that believe God commissioned this war while talking with Bush over a cup of Earl Grey. Many war-torn families feel that their mothers, fathers, sons, or daughters are helping the country achieve something great. If they die, they died for a great cause. These people, along with many war veterans, will vote for John McCain.
Time for a little recap. The rich and religious will mainly vote for McCain. The African American vote will probably go to Obama. Clinton will get the rest of the white population who aren’t already on McCain’s side. She has a great deal of feminine support too. The upcoming election will be an interesting one and if McCain doesn’t end up winning, we’ll have a new one for the history books. Make sure you know the candidate’s and their platform. Don’t waste your vote!
~Astroaction149
Read my other blogs at: http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/astroaction149
I think you've made some oversimplifications that don't account for the people in between the stereotypes. I'm a Christian, but not rich and most of my family has mentioned Obama favorably. So, I'm a little confused by your analysis.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
Yes I did make some generalizations. I do realize that there are people who aren't influenced to vote one way or another based on lifestyles and party ties. I wanted this blog to focus on the majority of voters in this country. I have added to the blog to make it clear that my educated generalizations are about the majority of voters and not the minority. Thanks you for pointing that out.
~Astroaction149
Read my other blogs at: http://progressiveu.org/blog/astroaction149
Are these generalizations really the overwhelming majority though? I'm not so sure. Maybe I can see how they are close to the majority of the people who actually vote. What do you think about the apathetic Americans who don't vote or the ones who vote independent?
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
In my personal opinion, I do in fact believe that the majority of people who can vote, do tend to follow party and/or religious influences when casting their vote. You can't honestly tell me that there isn't a large percentile who vote according to what their parish preaches. Morals and ethics are influenced by religion and so if one is taught that abortion or homosexuality is wrong and believes it, they probably will go with the strongest pro-life or anti-gay rights candidate available. Of course that is just an example. On a side note...I find it interesting how the candidates tend to stay as far away from those issues as possible during elections.
We're not talking about those who can't vote yet because they, for the most part, can't take part in an election of any sort except by volunteering at the local party headquarters to phone bank or lit-drop. Those 18 and older are ones targeted in this blog.
Those who have the ability to vote but make the decision to refrain from doing so have every the right to do so. Usually there aren't enough people who choose not to vote to make a huge issue but sometimes it is better to vote for "the lesser of two (or more) evils." Citizens who vote independent are not an issue. Unfortunately, no independent candidates, beyond George Washington, have ever been elected to the presidency and that was by the electoral college.
There's nothing wrong with independents or those who vote for them. I didn't mention them in the blog because they usually the candidates usually never have enough support to even threaten the main parties. An independent voter can be just as intellectual as anyone else. I simply am making generalizations that the more educated one is, the more they tend to understand issues and thus vote toward the left. It isn't a fact, just a trend. That's why we have groups that title themselves as things like "Men for [Insert female candidate here]." The contradictory groups bend the trend but the trend for the majority of the nation's voters has yet to really break.
Sorry about the long response. I got really into it. Let me know if there's something I left out.
~Astroaction149
I can totally see your point that the percentages that vote according to their major leanings are high. I'm just reluctant to call that the majority or say that Evangelicals will definitely vote for McCain without seeing some convincing statistics. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much...I think it's just the idea of putting people in compartments and not accounting for others large portions of the population that just don't fit into the stereotypes. Those that can't vote aren't an issue, but those who can and want to and then don't because they don't have faith in a candidate, then there's a problem and predictions should consider such outlying issues.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I'm a freethinker and consider myself an intellectual who has a hobby with economics. There is no way in Hell, I'd vote for Clinton.
I believe a write-in of Ron Paul should do the trick.
Good for you. I support the freethinking movement even though I belong to my own faith and and proud of it. Science and practicality still rule my thoughts and logic.
Getting to the point though, I understand what you mean. As I said above, I did not mean to suggest that just because one belongs to a party, faith, or anything else...it does not necessarily mean they'll vote one way or another. The blog focuses on the generalized trends of the voting population. That's all.
As far as Ron Paul...there was no need to mention him.
~Astroaction149
Why not?
He isn't a major contender in the election anymore. Check the standings.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/candidates/
The majority of people didn't support him when he had a chance to compete with McCain. John Edwards only had 3 less delegates supporting him. My blog was on the candidates who have support and a chance of winning the primaries / 2008 election.. Either McCain, Obama, or Clinton will reach the White House. On an amusing side note...Ron Paul looks a little like Sir Ian McKellen.
~Astroaction149