Dear Commons Community,

In light of the recent presidential election results,  Thomas B. Edsall, a professor of journalism at Columbia University, has an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times  entitled:  Is Rush Limbaugh’s Country Gone?    He introduces the piece by quoting Limbaugh who  told his listeners:

“I went to bed last night thinking we’re outnumbered. I went to bed last night thinking all this discussion we’d had about this election being the election that will tell us whether or not we’ve lost the country. I went to bed last night thinking we’ve lost the country.  I don’t know how else you look at this.”

Edsall then goes to cite other elements of the extreme right including William Bennett and the Heritage Foundation that echo the same sentiments.

Edsall’s main point, however, is that they may have reason to be concerned because the attitudes of some Americans especially young voters are tilting away from traditional values.  For instance:

In a Pew Research Center Poll:

“Not only does a plurality (49-46) of young people hold a favorable view of socialism — and, by a tiny margin (47-46), a negative view of capitalism — so do liberal Democrats, who view socialism positively by a solid 59-33; and African Americans, 55-36. Hispanics are modestly opposed, 49-44, to socialism, but they hold decisively negative attitudes toward capitalism, 55-32.”

Another poll by the Public Religion Research Institute reveals the decisively liberal views of many segments of the American electorate and its support for government activism, especially measures to help the disadvantaged.

“When voters were asked whether cutting taxes or investing in education and infrastructure is the better policy to promote economic growth, the constituencies of the new liberal electorate consistently chose education and infrastructure by margins ranging from 2-1 to 3-2 — African Americans by 62-33, Hispanics by 61-37, never-married men by 56-38, never-married women by 64-30, voters under 30 by 63-34, and those with post-graduate education by 60-33.”

Edsalls’ conclusion draws attention to the looming fiscal cliff that President Obama and the US Congress are presently negotiating:

“In broader terms, the political confrontation pits taxpayers, who now form the core of the center-right coalition, against tax consumers who form the core of the center-left…There are clear exceptions to this dichotomy, as many Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries (tax recipients) vote Republican, and many college-educated upper-income citizens of all races and ethnicities (tax payers) vote Democratic. Nonetheless, the overarching division remains, and the battle lines are drawn over how to distribute the costs of the looming fiscal crisis. The outcome of this policy fight will determine whether Limbaugh is correct to fear that his side has “lost the country.”

Tony