When it came time to go into the voting booth, Americans went with the candidate and the party that reflected their core values. They chose not to be cowed by the naysayers who said we can't win in Iraq. They chose not to be intimidated by 11th hour threats by Osama bin Laden, who emerged from whatever rock he's been hiding under to lecture Americans on everything from security to deficit spending, echoing talking points that sounded like they could have been written by Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe or film propagandist Michael Moore. They chose not to be divided by class warfare, or scared by outrageous claims that their Social Security benefits would be slashed or that their sons would be drafted if the president were re-elected. Americans went with the man whom they thought they could most trust because he is most like them.
No doubt, Maureen Dowd, Michael Kinsley and their crowd will spend endless hours poring over exit polls searching for clues about what makes John and Jane Q. Public tick. I expect they'll end up blaming the outcome of the election on the voting public's ignorance. Americans confuse the war in Iraq with the war on terror, they'll fume. Middle-class Americans actually think the Bush tax cut benefited them, the intellectuals will lament. If only more voters would read the New York Review of Books or take their instruction from those who do, things might have turned out differently.
I have some advice for these learned souls. If they want to understand the American electorate, maybe they should spend less time at Starbucks sipping double lattes over the Sunday Times and more time at church or the local high school football game or in line at a Wal-Mart. They might actually learn something about the values that drive most Americans: faith, family and an abiding love of their country. Maybe if the elites would stop lecturing instead of listening to the American public, they'd be less surprised at the outcome of our elections.