In USATODAY.com – Poll: Bush, Kerry in near-deadlock, the American papers trumpet basically a statistical dead heat between Bush & Kerry. CNN even reports that this is the first time the Gallup organization has reported a tie between leading presidential contenders in an American national election since polling started in the 1930s-40s.
This Report, puts the ties precisely: Bush and Kerry neck and neck – US Elections – www.smh.com.au
As they headed out to the stump for their final full day, the Washington Post, Zogby International and the American Research Group all had the race tied at 48 per cent, while Fox News reported a 46-46 percent deadlock.
CNN/USA Today/Gallup had it tied at 49 per cent, the first tie in the poll’s history.
In Politicized media do their share to polarize nation – The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA, there’s an interesting article on the increasing polarization of American politics, and the participation of media in the increasingly-heated political environment. The writer says it seems a return to the 19th Century.
It could be, as well, a result of the purging of classical Western education from the curriculum, combined with the effects of the increasing lack of education of the many. The highlight of American political discourse seems to be from F.D. Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson: from the time Americans actually experienced hunger, to their involvement in WW2, the explosion of increasingly educated and urbanized Americans due to the GI Bill after the war, until the trauma of Vietnam. Since Vietnam, with the crisis in confidence in America and the retreat of Liberalism, the educated ones have gotten older, the old political discourse was discredited, and political correctness and multiculturalism has banished classical Western Civilization from the educational system.
However, in USATODAY.com – An election worth celebrating, the author says the polarization of America this election isn’t a bad thing at all:
I’ve never seen so many bumper stickers or yard signs (some with bullet holes) or so many energized volunteers. This was a throwback to 19th century torchlight-parade stuff. And I suspect many of those newcomers will stick around politics, amateurs who become pros.
Sure, there was some poison in the 2004 passion. But if you like democracy, the Kerry-Bush battle was the best of modern times: crystal-clear choices, sky-high emotions, ordinary folks engaged.
This is true, as far as it goes. Better an involved and polarized citizenry than one which doesn’t care enough to vote.
A theory I have (anecdotal, not backed by any studies) is that Filipinos in the United States tend to vote Republican. At least the first generation (their children, usually educated, may be more liberal than they). This is, perhaps, an “immigrant” thing, seen in other immigrant communities. The generation that becomes American adopts the unswering devotion to property, low taxes, minimal government interference and rigid foreign policy biases of the American plutocracy. Filipinos of an older generation tended to be pro-Democrat, and usually educated Filipinos still sympathize with Democrats -but not so in the case of Filipinos who have moved to the USA.
