Objective Truth Still Wins Elections
By Mark R. Schneider
David Klinghoffer got it exactly right (What We Bush Voters Share: In God We Trust) in a piece published in the Los Angeles Times. What tipped the election in Bushs' favor was less about Christian values versus Pagan, or even about Republican values versus Democratic. The election turned on the concept of truth, or more accurately, what defines it.
Now I admit most people who rejected John Kerry would not say truth was the decisive factor. They would instead talk about their discomfort with same sex marriage, abortion on demand, and what seems a relentless downward slide of the nation’s moral pulse.
Actually, it is still probably true that most U.S. voters prefer to vote Democratic. It’s almost instinctual. While not merited, the Democratic Party has historically benefited from the impression that it’s concerned about the underdog more than Republicans. That’s a strong appeal for those in the undecided category of the political spectrum.
But many of these same people were rightly put off by Kerry’s now legendary flip-flops to pander votes, his affinity for organizations like MoveOn.org and Hollywood celebrities including propagandist Michael Moore, his off record but liberal use of expletives, and his last minute and obviously disingenuous appeal to the religious electorate. The Democratic Party finds itself too closely associated with MTV and its epicurean – “edit, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die” – philosophy. So the voters, wisely, rejected it.
Indeed, the election result was not so much a vote for Bush as it was against Kerry. Evangelicals voted for Bush in roughly the same proportion in 2004 as they did four years earlier. But Kerry lacks a moral center, and it unsettled a large number of undecided voters no matter how well he trounced Bush in the debates (which he did).
Most Americans still want leaders who judge right from wrong based on more than the latest opinion poll or focus group. As Mr. Klinghoffer observes, the people who voted for Bush, Christian and Jew, believe moral truth is both knowable and objective, becomes it comes from God. Those who voted for Kerry tend to view moral truth subjectively. They look to feelings as their guide rather than any objective standard, like the Torah or the New Testemant. Fortunately truth still matters in America, and it’s the reason Kerry lost.
David Klinghoffer got it exactly right (What We Bush Voters Share: In God We Trust) in a piece published in the Los Angeles Times. What tipped the election in Bushs' favor was less about Christian values versus Pagan, or even about Republican values versus Democratic. The election turned on the concept of truth, or more accurately, what defines it.
Now I admit most people who rejected John Kerry would not say truth was the decisive factor. They would instead talk about their discomfort with same sex marriage, abortion on demand, and what seems a relentless downward slide of the nation’s moral pulse.
Actually, it is still probably true that most U.S. voters prefer to vote Democratic. It’s almost instinctual. While not merited, the Democratic Party has historically benefited from the impression that it’s concerned about the underdog more than Republicans. That’s a strong appeal for those in the undecided category of the political spectrum.
But many of these same people were rightly put off by Kerry’s now legendary flip-flops to pander votes, his affinity for organizations like MoveOn.org and Hollywood celebrities including propagandist Michael Moore, his off record but liberal use of expletives, and his last minute and obviously disingenuous appeal to the religious electorate. The Democratic Party finds itself too closely associated with MTV and its epicurean – “edit, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die” – philosophy. So the voters, wisely, rejected it.
Indeed, the election result was not so much a vote for Bush as it was against Kerry. Evangelicals voted for Bush in roughly the same proportion in 2004 as they did four years earlier. But Kerry lacks a moral center, and it unsettled a large number of undecided voters no matter how well he trounced Bush in the debates (which he did).
Most Americans still want leaders who judge right from wrong based on more than the latest opinion poll or focus group. As Mr. Klinghoffer observes, the people who voted for Bush, Christian and Jew, believe moral truth is both knowable and objective, becomes it comes from God. Those who voted for Kerry tend to view moral truth subjectively. They look to feelings as their guide rather than any objective standard, like the Torah or the New Testemant. Fortunately truth still matters in America, and it’s the reason Kerry lost.
posted by Publius @ 10:33 PM
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