Barack Obama's Suburban Revolution
Several important milestones were reached with President-elect Obama's historic win. I mentioned earlier, but want to discuss in greater detail, Obama's Suburban Revolution. This revolution was in evidence not just in the South but also in the Southwest. It is driven by the politics of liberal northerners from outside such states as Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado, who flocked to new areas in great numbers—wooed by cheaper real estate and warmer climes.
Watching the returns come in on Tuesday night, I could not help but hum The Band's 1969 tune, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
And the comparison is apt not only because a new political South and Southwest are emerging but, in many ways, the politics of the '60s have returned as well. Unlike President Clinton, who had to temper his support for abortion and gay rights while campaigning for office, Obama did little of the same. He won national office despite the National Journal's naming him the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate—an unthinkable feat considering the millennial conservative swing in American politics.
McCain's campaign slogan, "Country First," was a winner in the post-9/11 jingoistic frenzy to prove which party was the more patriotic. But as Americans' worries turn closer to home, jobs, and the economy, our patriotic "shpilkes" (Yiddish for "ants in our pants") settles down, too. Perhaps so-called Rockefeller Republicans of the '70s (fiscal conservatives, social liberals) may regain power as the GOP attempts to enter its own Reconstruction era. If the GOP sticks with Christian conservatives and Palin-style politics, it will banish itself to the hinterlands for many elections to come.
Tags: Colorado | North Carolina | Virginia | presidential election 2008 | Barack Obama
Tools: 
Share
|
| Comments (6) | Print
Reader Comments
What's next?
Now that history was made, what does that say about our country? We broke barriers yes, but we have also let the elitist illuminati take over Congress, and that will go down in history, and not in a good way.
R.L. Schaefer
I cannot believe there are still dingbats posting such drivel. How about at least giving this administration a chance before you lambaste it? What has been done for any of us - any part of America - and person of any color, race, creek or religion - in the past 8 years? Nothing, nada, zilch - only crap trickles down. You really, really need to be shaken and awakened!
RL Schaefer of CA
Oh yeah it would be much better if McSame were the President-Elect. Then we could cheer and drink and watch CNN while the good ole USA bombs Iran and postpones all our troubles another 8 more years. HRC lost the primary, get over it! Until the Republic of America develops a true democratic system instead of the corrupt two-party system we will always have to vote for "the lesser evil".
I live in an ignorant, Republican-dominated environment every day ("Barrack Hussein Obama will make us all wear turbans now"; "Our taxes are going up"; "He's a communist"; "Rush said..."; etc.). And much of this sh*t comes from college-degreed professionals making less than $100k who moved here from other than the South! You can't imagine the in-bred thinking I've lived with in the South all my life. Not to say the Dems are the end-all, but until a revolution occurs they are typically the "lesser evil".
I am an optimist at heart, but real change here is very slow; not sure much has changed in reality. It was just a stroke of luck that the economy turned sour before the election; just look at the popular vote: only 52% to 47%. Without hard times, Nader, McKinney, et.al. would likely make better in-roads as in 2000, and the result would have been the same old crap.
advertisement
