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For Liberals, What's Next? By KEATS DIEFFENBACH
November 2 has come and gone, and the results are in. Conservatives are basking in their bittersweet, three-pronged victory and claiming a mandate from the American people. Liberals the world over are cringing at the loss of the presidency and the thought of such clear-cut Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and I must chafe right along with them. A Republican-controlled executive, legislative, and judicial branch will lead this country righteously and steadily backward, perhaps most notably in terms of equal rights, energy policy, and environmental protection. Disillusioned liberals are struggling to find the next step as we come to terms with this harsh reality.
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| Keats Dieffenbach |
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The news media tell us that America is bitterly divided. John Edwards spoke often of two Americas, one for the rich and prosperous, and one for everybody else. Bill Clinton told us at the Democratic National Convention that the Republicans need a divided America to further their own agenda. My favorite reference to this came on the night of the election when Tom Brokaw commented that some Americans might awake the next morning to a different America than the one they had gone to bed with. Regardless of how many Americas there are, the lines between blue and red are now more clearly drawn than they have been in decades. And for this reason I suspect election results in the immediate future are going to be influenced less by people's changing viewpoints and more by how many people representing each viewpoint actually show up at the polls on Election Day.We saw this demonstrated with painful clarity in the recent election. For the first time since the Great Depression, liberals are now America's minority in Washington. We lack the presidency, we lack majorities in both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, and a conservative Republican has ousted our incumbent Senate minority leader. These results are depressing, but they are simply not an accurate representation of American sentiments as a whole. A lot stands between supporting a candidate and actually casting one's vote for that candidate, and on November 2 there were far too many liberals who, for whatever reason, did not cross that line. Conservatives will always be able to conjure record numbers by using fear tactics and invoking religious fundamentalism. Liberals must answer this call with stubborn, old-fashioned determination by registering to vote and voting in every upcoming election.
The practical importance of voting in America is too often misunderstood. In addressing this issue the two major parties appeal to our "civic duty," essentially telling us that we should vote just because we can. Not surprisingly, this approach is rarely effective, and both parties now pay mere lip service to the task of increasing America's abominably low turnout rates. The Republican Party has responded by bypassing the issue altogether and tailoring its agenda to a specific focus group, manipulating rather than inspiring its members to vote. Bush's carefully-timed support of the Federal Marriage Amendment and his incessant chatter about a "culture of life" (despite the ambiguity of approving limited stem cell research and his somewhat evasive stance on abortion rights) are strong evidence of this strategy. Democrats seem tempted to replicate this approach as they bemoan the fact that they think they have lost support among key segments of the population. We must show that the support is indeed present and that in future elections we will represent it at the polls in even greater numbers. It falls upon us liberals to demonstrate how many Americans believe in true tolerance, equal rights, and progress. We will go to the polls not like those conservatives who go because they are afraid, but because we are proud of what we believe in. If each of us values those beliefs enough to share them at the ballot box, then our numbers will take on tremendous influence. If we do not do this, then we can blame no one but ourselves for the painful choices our country has made.Keats Dieffenbach is a master's student in violin.
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