Sunday, November 07, 2004

Pasted from <http://www.dailykos.com/>   ABOUT THAT URBAN/RURAL DIVIDE. Gallup's post-election poll seems to do some major damage to the rapidly emerging conventional wisdom about the 2004 election. According to Gallup, George W. Bush improved his share among suburban voters (51 percent in 2000, 54 percent in 2004) and among urban voters (35 percent in 2000, 44 percent in 2004) while doing worse among rural voters (60 percent in 2000, down to 54 percent in 2004). Similarly, while Bush gained among all categories of educational attainment, his biggest improvement was among those holding postgraduate degrees (47 percent, up from 43 percent) while his smallest gain was among those with high school or less (46 percent, up from 45 percent). Other bits of the polling do tend to support the conventional wisdom that Bush made significant gains among self-identified conservatives or Republicans, and big gains among regular churchgoers, while staying flat among the non-observant. Still, it appears that in a few respects, the cultural divisions in the United States are narrowing, rather than widening. Add this to the Map link yesterday and throw in some more data from EDM on related subjects: Religion and the 2004 Election More importantly, between 2000 and 2004, President Bush's largest gains occurred among less religious voters, not among more religious voters. Among those attending services more than weekly and those attending every week, support for Bush rose by 1 percent, from 63 percent in 2000 to 64 percent in 2004. However, among those attending services a few times a month, support for Bush rose by 4 points, from 46 percent to 50 percent, among those attending only a few times a year, support for Bush rose by 3 points, from 42 percent to 45 percent, and among those never attending services, support for Bush rose by 4 points, from 32 percent to 36 percent. Bottom line: the President made gains across the board among voters, regardless of their degree of religious commitment but he made his largest gains among less religious voters. above posted on Sunday, November 07, 2004, 11:29:14 AM

Bush is radical, Kerry was middle of the road. That the press and Rove have gotten the public to accept that Kerry is left liberal is a distortion that leaves us all fairy weak and without leverage, leaving the right and middle to Bush. The left does not exist in America, and the middle is pushed out to the periphery. The middle has no leadership, and not much  press. It is in this condition of the frame that events will unfold, creating opportunity to get heard, but midst destruction, economic and security. As the country senses this we will move between paralysis of the middle/left to attempts to block Bush actions. What will make a difference? Falluja, Blair's visit, the start of the social security discussion (for which his middle support is not prepared). above posted on Sunday, November 07, 2004, 11:28:42 AM