The Meaning Of The American Presidential Election 2012
My view of the recent presidential election is that I was not surprised that President Obama was reelected although I was surprised that the margin of victory was so big.
However there was a dark side to the result that needs to be examined.
President Obama won with the overwhelming vote of minorities whereas the white vote particularly in the South predominantly went to Mitt Romney.
This suggests to me that the Confederacy is still strong and the Southern Strategy is still at work.
The division of the country in terms of voter behaviour is well illustrated here and the GOP seems to have given up on the North East and the West while the South is a large cluster of solid red states.
The Democrats have written off the South though they won't admit it.
President Johnson was right when he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1965 when he said "There goes the South".
When one part of a country consistently votes one way and another part votes another way, that is the recipe for a separation.
A case in point is the United Kingdom where the discovery of North Sea oil invigorated Scottish nationalism in the 1970's to the point that the separatist party, the Scottish Nationalist Party won most of the seats in Scotland leading to a devolved Parliament and now the Scots have won the right to decide on full independence in a referendum in 2014.
Another example of the development of a separatist movement is in Quebec where Quebec nationalism, called Quebec Separatism gained momentum in the 1960's and in the 2012 election the Separatist Parti Quebecois won most of the seats in Quebec, having dethroned the Liberals who had ruled the province for nearly a decade.
After the election, the party leader Pauline Marois said " We want a country and we will have it".
There is no denying that it is only a matter of time that they will have it.
With the possible break-up of Canada and the rebirth of Scottish nationalism, Southerners in the U.
S.
are increasingly wondering whether greater autonomy of the South is possible.
To them secession is the only answer to further encroachments on state rights by the Federal Government (North in general).
Hence all the talk about devolution of central power back to the States.
The South has always seen themselves as distinct from the rest of the country.
There are differences in culture, religion, political ideology and ethnicity that form a nation distinct from the North.
Even the fragments of the Democratic Party that still exist in the South call themselves "Southern Democrats" or blue dogs to distinguish themselves from their Northern colleagues.
Ethnically the whites in the South are from Great Britain and Northern Europe and are Protestant.
Politically the South is more conservative than the North and all Southerners share similarities in cuisine, language and music.
Southerners see liberalism as being tainted with Marxism that preaches centralized government and multiculturalism.
Southern nationalism is based on the belief that cultural heritage must be maintained through ethnic autonomy.
So concepts like "affirmative action" to achieve equality is not true diversity because all cultures are not equal.
10% of the population in the South support independence which is a larger base of support than the 5% that Parti Quebecois had when it came into existence.
(The case for Southern Secession (again) by John George ).
Given the stranglehold that the tea party has over the GOP and the perception in the South that the Democratic Party is the party of minorties, the renewed calls for secession by southerners following the election is likely to grow and become a force to be reckoned with in the future.
In the meantime, given their dismal performance with hispanic voters in the election the GOP is talking about outreach to this group.
Are they going to project Marco Rubio and governor Jindal onto this community? If they do they will be met with the same reaction " You have the right color but you are in the wrong party".
Victor A.
Dixon November 29, 2012
However there was a dark side to the result that needs to be examined.
President Obama won with the overwhelming vote of minorities whereas the white vote particularly in the South predominantly went to Mitt Romney.
This suggests to me that the Confederacy is still strong and the Southern Strategy is still at work.
The division of the country in terms of voter behaviour is well illustrated here and the GOP seems to have given up on the North East and the West while the South is a large cluster of solid red states.
The Democrats have written off the South though they won't admit it.
President Johnson was right when he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1965 when he said "There goes the South".
When one part of a country consistently votes one way and another part votes another way, that is the recipe for a separation.
A case in point is the United Kingdom where the discovery of North Sea oil invigorated Scottish nationalism in the 1970's to the point that the separatist party, the Scottish Nationalist Party won most of the seats in Scotland leading to a devolved Parliament and now the Scots have won the right to decide on full independence in a referendum in 2014.
Another example of the development of a separatist movement is in Quebec where Quebec nationalism, called Quebec Separatism gained momentum in the 1960's and in the 2012 election the Separatist Parti Quebecois won most of the seats in Quebec, having dethroned the Liberals who had ruled the province for nearly a decade.
After the election, the party leader Pauline Marois said " We want a country and we will have it".
There is no denying that it is only a matter of time that they will have it.
With the possible break-up of Canada and the rebirth of Scottish nationalism, Southerners in the U.
S.
are increasingly wondering whether greater autonomy of the South is possible.
To them secession is the only answer to further encroachments on state rights by the Federal Government (North in general).
Hence all the talk about devolution of central power back to the States.
The South has always seen themselves as distinct from the rest of the country.
There are differences in culture, religion, political ideology and ethnicity that form a nation distinct from the North.
Even the fragments of the Democratic Party that still exist in the South call themselves "Southern Democrats" or blue dogs to distinguish themselves from their Northern colleagues.
Ethnically the whites in the South are from Great Britain and Northern Europe and are Protestant.
Politically the South is more conservative than the North and all Southerners share similarities in cuisine, language and music.
Southerners see liberalism as being tainted with Marxism that preaches centralized government and multiculturalism.
Southern nationalism is based on the belief that cultural heritage must be maintained through ethnic autonomy.
So concepts like "affirmative action" to achieve equality is not true diversity because all cultures are not equal.
10% of the population in the South support independence which is a larger base of support than the 5% that Parti Quebecois had when it came into existence.
(The case for Southern Secession (again) by John George ).
Given the stranglehold that the tea party has over the GOP and the perception in the South that the Democratic Party is the party of minorties, the renewed calls for secession by southerners following the election is likely to grow and become a force to be reckoned with in the future.
In the meantime, given their dismal performance with hispanic voters in the election the GOP is talking about outreach to this group.
Are they going to project Marco Rubio and governor Jindal onto this community? If they do they will be met with the same reaction " You have the right color but you are in the wrong party".
Victor A.
Dixon November 29, 2012
Source...