Some Advice for Tuesday's Real Losers

Catholic Exchange.com ^ | 11-06-04 | Linda Chavez

[Salvation]

	by Linda Chavez Other Articles by Linda Chavez Contact this Author

Some Advice for Tuesday's Real Losers

11/06/04

The real loser in Tuesday's election wasn't Democrat John Kerry, but the media and intellectual elites who demonstrated, once again, how out of touch they are with the American public. In the final analysis, John Kerry and running mate John Edwards accepted their defeat with dignity and grace.

It remains to be seen whether their supporters among the intelligentsia will do the same. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof was typical. Writing "without knowing the election results," as he admitted in the column that appeared the morning after the election, he nonetheless felt he should lecture "the millions of farmers, factory workers and waitresses who ended up voting — utterly against their own interests — for Republican candidates." The common folk, you see, just don't know what's good for them. That attitude explains why the elites continue to get it wrong.

There is simply no way to explain away the Republican Party's stunning victory Tuesday. Not only did the president win some 3.5 million more votes than his opponent, but he did so despite a relentless onslaught of bad press in the final days of the campaign. The president prevailed in spite of vicious attacks on his personal character and integrity by an array of well-funded partisan attack dogs. The president won re-election even though Democrats and their allied groups outspent Republicans by an estimated $70 million.

And it wasn't just a personal victory for George W. Bush. Republicans overall made impressive gains in the House and Senate, including defeating Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. When all the votes are finally counted, the GOP will likely hold a 55-44 edge in the Senate, a 234-201 majority in the House, and will control 29 of 50 governorships.

This was not supposed to happen.

The pollsters told us so; Bruce Springsteen told us so; and so did Bill Clinton, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Jon Stewart, George Soros and a lot of other very important people. The theme was echoed by CBS, ABC, CNN, MTV and most of Hollywood. The only problem was, the American people just weren't listening.

When it came time to go into the voting booth, Americans went with the candidate and the party that reflected their core values. They chose not to be cowed by the naysayers who said we can't win in Iraq. They chose not to be intimidated by 11th-hour threats by Osama bin Laden, who emerged from whatever rock he's been hiding under to lecture Americans on everything from security to deficit spending, echoing talking points that sounded like they could have been written by Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe or film propagandist Michael Moore. They chose not to be divided by class warfare, or scared by outrageous claims that their Social Security benefits would be slashed or that their sons would be drafted if the president were re-elected. Americans went with the man whom they thought they could most trust because he is most like them.

No doubt Maureen Dowd, Michael Kinsley and their crowd will spend endless hours poring over exit polls searching for clues about what makes John and Jane Q. Public tick. I expect they'll end up blaming the outcome of the election on the voting public's ignorance. Americans confuse the war in Iraq with the war on terror, they'll fume. Middle-class Americans actually think the Bush tax cut benefited them, the intellectuals will lament. If only more voters would read the New York Review of Books or take their instruction from those who do, things might have turned out differently.

I have some advice for these learned souls. If they want to understand the American electorate, maybe they should spend less time at Starbucks sipping double lattes over the Sunday Times and more time at church or the local high school football game or in line at a Wal-Mart. They might actually learn something about the values that drive most Americans: faith, family and an abiding love of their country. Maybe if the elites would stop lecturing and instead start listening to the American public, they'd be less surprised at the outcome of our elections.


Linda Chavez is CEO and President of the Center for Equal Opportunity. And the author of Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics . You can email her at comment@ceousa.org.

To find out more about Linda Chavez, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page.

[Salvation]

**If they want to understand the American electorate, maybe they should spend less time at Starbucks sipping double lattes over the Sunday Times and more time at church or the local high school football game or in line at a Wal-Mart.**

Can't really see Kerry doing this, can you?

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Salvation]

**No doubt Maureen Dowd, Michael Kinsley and their crowd will spend endless hours poring over exit polls searching for clues about what makes John and Jane Q. Public tick.**

And some of them will never get it! LOL!

[ken5050]

Remember the commercial the Kerry campaign ran the last week, incessantly, of the eagle and the ostrich?..Can't rememeber who said it, but some focus group reviewd the commerical, and 75% of the viewers were positive that it was a GOP ad..that Kerry was the ostrich..

[anniegetyourgun]

No, but I could see Terrayzah sipping doubles on Sunday at Times in church, thinking she's playing football at Wal-Mart.

[Rocko]

In the final analysis, John Kerry and running mate John Edwards accepted their defeat with dignity and grace. It remains to be seen whether their supporters among the intelligentsia will do the same.

No, it doesn't. The hatchets have been out for days.

[Salvation]

LOl! Definitely -- and I say that assuming that the pictures we saw of her portrayed a side of her she really didn't want to be public.

[Theresawithanh]

A great one by Ms. Chavez, and a great accompanying picture of an ostrich (is it Susan Ostrich?) with it's head in the sand!

Liberals and progressives are like the slogan for 7-Up, with a little tweaking - "Never got it, never will".

[Salvation]

Kerry was the ostrich

I thought that too when I first saw the ad. Then I listened to it. Amazing -- the images people had of him.

[Salvation]

Especially Dowd.

[Savagemom]

I don't know about y'all, but I am feeling much less shy about being a conservative this last week - I wonder if that is the case for others too. It reminds me of how we were right after 9/11 - suddenly it was not so strange for people to display their flags or sing "God Bless America" - people in my hometown at least put aside their political correctness or embarassment or fear of offending someone and let their faith and patriotism show through. That's how I'm feeling in the aftermath of this election - I'm looking around and realizing that the majority of the country actually shares my values!

This election wasn't just a mandate for President Bush, but for conservatives all around.

[BJungNan]

There is no advise for these people. I tried telling one of them to get over it and all he could spew was...

1. 50 million voted against Bush.
2. I don't want stock brokers handling my social security.

On the last one I asked him if he ever looked at how much money he put into social security vs what he will get out.

He was totally perplexed when I explained to him, if you put all you social security payments into the bank drawing now interest, you would have more to retire on that what the government will pay him in benefits.

He still wants the government to handle his money.

These libs are all emotion. They are incapable of rational thought or any critical thinking whatsoever.

[HighWheeler]

Sheesh, I saw the commercial and thought it was a slam on Kerry. Your post was the first I knew it was a rat commercial.

[Rocko]

And Jane (the Ignorant Slut) Smiley.

[GOPologist]

"Can't really see Kerry doing this, can you?"

No, but I can see him telling less than truth of his Vietnam experiences, embracing the MSM especially Rather, vilifying our President near the end of the campaign when he slammed our President about the explosives in Iraq and all-round lack of integrity.

[Enterprise]

"Not only did the president win some 3.5 million more votes than his opponent, but he did so despite a relentless onslaught of bad press in the final days of the campaign."

Yes, but let's remember prior Presidents, and let us be ready to counter what is to come.

Jimmy Carter - Old Media loved him.

Ronald Reagan - "relentless onslaught of bad press" during his Presidency.

George H.W. Bush - "relentless onslaught of bad press" during his Presidency.

Bill Clinton. Old Media loved him.

George W. Bush - "relentless onslaught of bad press." This was not only before his first win in 2000, but it continued during his entire term, and will continue during the next four years. In their blinded foaming rage, the left knows that the key difference now is that the right has the internet (FreeRepublic), talk radio, and FOX News Channel as counterweights to their fascism, making it more difficult to successfully float slanderous stories or downright lies. So folks, keep your helmets on and get ready to block, tackle, intercept, and keep scoring. The dark side won't rest, and we can't either.

Their basic strategy will continue. They will try to find some grounds to impeach President Bush. They will try to find grounds to take down top Republican leaders. OM will continue to shill for them.

[MadelineZapeezda]

[xzins]

No doubt Maureen Dowd, Michael Kinsley and their crowd will spend endless hours poring over exit polls searching for clues about what makes John and Jane Q. Public tick.

Ya know, I've heard a opinions about moral issues, war, etc. coming from pundits who cite those exit polls.

Someone help me if I'm off base here....but aren't those the thoroughly discredited, rife with sampling error polls that proved totally useless and biased?

If I'm wacko let me know.

[Casloy]

Why do we expect anything different from these self important idiots? They always behave this way and why do we suddenly think they are going to stop acting like the self important, arrogant a$$holes they are? We should be laughing at them for the complete jokes they really are. This election was more than just a mandate for president Bush, this was a repudiation of the Democrats and they know it. They are in denial and trying desperately to rationalize it away. They are like the wife who is always finding empty bottles of gin hidden around the house and still won't accept her husband is an alcoholic. There MUST be some other explanation.

[Salvation]

**On the last one I asked him if he ever looked at how much money he put into social security vs what he will get out.**

You got it right there!