Matters of Church and State

YOU CAN COME HOME AGAIN

          As I pored over the post-election statistics and analysis, what struck me most is the feeling that America came home again on Tuesday.  I’d like to think of it as America coming home to its better self, but that depends on where one stands politically, I suppose.

But, however one interprets the election results, the turnout and the voting underscored once again that America is still a diverse nation of immigrants and, theoretically at least, a land of opportunity for all its citizens.  The Obama campaign clearly understood that and the coalition that led it to victory was spearheaded by women, African-Americans, Latinos, gays and lesbians, and the young.  That speaks volumes.

For example, more than 70 percent of Latinos voted for President Obama and made the decisive difference in States like Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, and even Virginia.  Nationally, women favored Obama by a substantial margin.  Older white men voted strongly in favor of Governor Romney, as expected, but fortunately the days when white men called all the shots, politically as elsewhere, are disappearing as the demographics of America develops a darker, more diverse hue.

What was especially heartening for me about Tuesday’s vote was the role that women played in the outcome.  Conservative pundits are saying it was just the reproductive rights issue that tilted women in favor of Obama.  But, it was much more than that.  It was about equal pay for equal work and a host of other economic, social, and family issues.  To their credit, the bottom line for women tends to be much broader than reproductive rights or the last line of a spread sheet.

As it is for all the other segments of the Obama coalition, such as African-Americans, despite Bill O’Reilly’s assertion that so many who voted for Obama are just interested in “getting things.” That being the case, they vote for the Democrats who give them “lots of things,” he concluded.  He’s right in one respect:  African-Americans and other ethnic groups, including poor Whites, do want “things,” like respect, equality, and a fair chance at the American Dream – not handouts and welfare checks, as O’Reilly and other bigots would suggest.

To be fair, many top-level GOP strategists woke up Wednesday morning and realized their party had shrunk badly and was flirting with irrelevance or extinction unless it became more inclusive.  That transformation would be a god-send for the GOP and for the country generally.  But, it will take a long time, I fear.  Too many in the Grand Old Party are still in denial suggesting that the next few months, if not years, will be heavy sledding.

Meantime, the real people have clearly spoken and they have reminded us of the bedrock, conservative values on which our country was founded: We are an immigrant nation that promises opportunity and equality for all.  And, a country where, as the President has reminded us, “we are all in this together…that’s who we are.”

Gerald E. Lavey