Bush's Narrow Base
The president split the popular vote with Kerry, but the narrowness of his base is striking. The majority of Bush’s support—88 percent—came from whites. He lost African Americans nine to one. Asians nearly two to one. Efforts to woo Hispanics earned all of 40 percent of their votes.
Only in the South did Bush win a majority—losing the popular vote in the East, the Midwest and the West.Class mattered—even though Kerry was unable to sustain an economic message amid the barrages of the campaign. According to exit polls, Bush lost majorities of all those making $50,000 and less—and won majorities of those making more than that.
His biggest margin came from those making more than $100,000. His base remains the “haves and the have mores,” as he famously put it.The president won overwhelming majorities among those who considered the war on terrorism or morals the most important single issue. But, tellingly, he lost three-quarters of voters who considered Iraq the most important issue and three-quarters who thought the economy and jobs the most important. Kerry’s candidacy was propelled by anti-war sentiment and economic discontent. Kerry also won vast majorities of those who thought health care or education was the most important issue.
Some argue that the strength of the president’s evangelical base suggests America is headed toward a new era of prohibition and moral reaction. But John Kerry was the most secular of candidates. He championed science against the forces of moral reaction. He stood clearly for liberal social issues from civil unions to women’s right to choose. He was a liberal senator from Massachusetts, as the president delighted in repeating.
Kerry’s campaign may mark the beginning of a reaction not by the right—but by the center and left against the forces of intolerance.More:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/postconcession_reflections.php
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