What was this election all about?

Both the Democrats and the Republicans have employed new marketing strategies that target specific groups with issues that are intended to sway the voter with the party's stand on the issue. For example, Democrat campaigners were canvassing the black voters in the Cleveland area. When interviewing the potential voter, the campaign worker would show a video from a portable video player that discussed the high umemployment rate among blacks in Ohio. Similarly, the Republicans would canvas a conservative white area and play a video discussing the prospect of gay marriages being sanctioned.

In short, both parties are playing upon the fears of their electorate. This type of campaigning exacerbates the polorization among voters and makes it even harder for Americans to become a united people. It also makes it harder to elect someone based on the really important issues. The lesson we learned from the past election is that the Republicans did a better job of getting its voter base out to vote.

So are there universal issues that we all should be concerned about or did we elect a president based on fears real or imagined raised by both parties? Quite honestly, I feel that we as an electorate vote based on whether or not we like the guy. Issues are too complex and too abstract for people to even consider who is best qualified to deal with them. Let's face it, if your daddy was a Republican, chances you are also. We inherit our biases and our preferences.

People tend to vote for someone they feel comfortable with. Notice how many presidents we had that were from the South with a good ole boy southern accent; Johnson, Carter, Clinton, and now Bush. How many people can identify with John Kerry and his East Coast accent and who couldn't help like Ronald Reagan with his down home personality? Even though George Bush Senior was victorious in Desert Storm, he still had a wooden personality and lost his bid for re-election after riding in on Reagan's coat tails in the election of 1988.

Secondly, most presidents tend to become neuter in their politics once in office. Although professing to be a liberal and aside from Hillary's attempt to nationalize health care, Clinton's actions as president were considered conservative in nature as he kept a lid on spending and enjoyed a free ride with a robust economy. In contrast, President Bush initiated his No Child Left Behind mandate in an effort to improve education, which can be considered a liberal action.

America's founding was based on individual liberty. I still think most Americans who work for a living and pay taxes want less government and more control over their lives. I also think that Americans still feel that the traditional family is the glue that holds our culture together. College professors and philosophers have the luxury of contemplating the future of man and how best to improve it. Gay rights, same sex marriage, welfare and entitlements for the less fortunate, the environment, and a de-emphasis on the military are issues that come to the forefront in the absence of other issues like war or a depressed economy. Unfortunately, we are at war and people do not feel as rich as they used to. In times like these, people become more insecure and resist the efforts of those who want to cram new ideologies down their throats.

In the 1930's when movies became popular, they were produced by European immigrants. They instilled in the movies their vision of what American life is all about. Many of our customs and tastes were influenced by their vision. Seventy years later, Hollywood is still trying to tell the rest of Americans how they should live. However, Michael Moore and Whoopie Goldberg are not exactly someone that the rest of the country can relate to.