The election of President Obama was as much about Demography as it was about Democracy. The result of the American Presidential Election last night was a paradigmic shifting that exposes that change IS on the way.This latest Democratic exercise exposed how one half of my cohorts, the Baby Boomers, failed to finish what we started during our youth...we talked the talk.
We are now painfully aware that half of the BABY BOOM GENERATION erroneously white washed as the Hippy/WE Generation morphed into the Yuppy/ME Generation who perfected the Cult of Materialism which unceremoniously imploded in the Marketplace a few weeks ago.
Congratulations.
Now we step out of our ridiculously over-mortgaged Sidewalk free Suburban McMansion and drive our gas-guzzlin SUV's to a concrete wasteland of garrish Big Box Retail Outlets and wait in the Drive-Thru for a fancyschmancy coffee that costs $6. Way to go!
Mercifully two thirds of the younger Generation, including our children, who listened to us talk the talk about equality and compassion, are walking the walk and came to the rescue!
DEMOGRAPHICS:
If you look HERE, you'll see that Obama's support came from 66% of the voters aged 18-29 and 52% of those aged 30-44. From there we see that about one half (49%) of the Baby Boomers, now aged 44-64, voted for Obama. You might find this surprising given all of the hoopla about Peace, Love, and Unicorns back in the tumultuous 60s when the Boomers entered the political scene.
Less than half (45%) of those 65 and older voted for change.
Another equally important fact is that 56% of women voted for Barrack while only 49% of the men concurred.
GEOGRAPHICALLY:
Aging Middle America voted for the Republican John McCain and Traditionalism. Change schmange!
Look at this MAP
If I drove straight South from my home I would drive through Republican Red States all the way to Mexico.
It also came as no surprise that the Segregated South still has a tinge of Red around the neck..the reddest necks (close to 60%) are evident in Oklahoma, Wyoming, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Idaho and Nebraska.
If I drove straight South from my home I would drive through Republican Red States all the way to Mexico.
It also came as no surprise that the Segregated South still has a tinge of Red around the neck..the reddest necks (close to 60%) are evident in Oklahoma, Wyoming, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, Idaho and Nebraska.In a nutshell, the future will be molded by a more Moderate Feminine Electorate. Females make up the majority of Earthlings and since all vertebrates are formed as females (creating males requires a mutation) this would seem to be a return to homeostatic normalcy.
I for one look forward to the Global Feminization of Human Affairs..male domination has made this world a violent, inequitable place.
It seems logical that those of us who are designed to create, carry, and nurture Life, are better suited to preserving it.Now it even seems possible that an American with ovaries might someday sit in the oval office.
Is the Old Boys Club really on it's way out?
Can you tell me brother, why am I dancing along with you all?
ReplyDelete*waits for a black woman to be elected*
ReplyDeleteI would normally agree with you 1000% but let me instill the fear of almighty crap into you.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Thatcher.
As warm and nurturing as an ice enema with spikes on.
Well, "W" and his cronies are on their way out (Get the HELL outta the White House already!).
ReplyDeleteI hope everyone remembers that Obama inherits a firey shitball when he gets into office. I hope we will still remember to support him when he runs into roadblocks, because I'm sure he will.
He'll really need our support then.
The younger generation bailed on us 8 years ago, it's about time the did something to protect their future. This vote for change was long overdue.
ReplyDeleteAnd no surprise the majority of women voted for Obama - he is more pro-women's rights than Palin, the anti-woman.
I'm just happy. Relieved, hopeful, and happy.
Here's something that has stuck in my mind: George Bush's great legacy is that he mobilized the younger genberation and the apathetic to get out there and vote for Obama. Do you think that was his plan all along? :)
ReplyDeleteGAUTAMI
ReplyDeleteYou are jubilant because now the citizens of the world's largest democracy can presume, with a fair degree of certainty, that Obama will cancel Dubya's planned invasion of India to rescue all them outsourcized tech-jobs that it stole.
MJ
Oprah won't run because then her sex life would be put under a microscope and Gayle King needs the hush money.
That leaves Arethra Franklin, who is already a Queen and is prolly not interested in a paycut.
Who'd you have in mind? Foxy(70s)Brown, Condy Rice, Halle, Beyonce, Carol Moseley-Braun?
VICUS
HAHAHA! Oh crap the Baroness, there goes my theory...although did anyone actually get a cheek scraping from Mrs. Denis Thatcher to prove her gender?
Anyone ever actually see or feel her boobs? Aside from Ronny Raygun or Denis could anyone prove that the Milk Snatcher had a you know..
rhymes with Thatch?
Exactly!
RANDOM CHICK
I hate to bring this up but Dubya still has until Jan 20th to git sumpin' started with the Eyerainian Prezimadent...
Manhood Allma-dinner-jazz...
no what the hayl is hiz name..
Armadillojihad..
who gives a crap..
that pussy
CITIZEN MONDO
I think that Gen Xers had to make sure that Grunge was really dead before they could vote. It's impossible to be terminally nihilistic & cynical and still bother to vote.
These days what could be more irrelevent that Grunge?
ANDREA
Yeah maybe..sort of like Hitler's roundabout plan to secure a permanent location for the State of Israel?
Ach Thatcher is the bogeywoman, she caused global warming you know, she may have taken our school milk but she beat the Argies, she was like a Churchill with tits the cuntry soon turned on him.
ReplyDeleteStrong competent leadership is needed everywhere. Its tough being a leader being adaptable has to be a trait.
A younger hipper attractive to weemen candidate was a good ploy the GOP went for the hot woman thinking men are the only ones that matter. Changing times not 80's ideals.
Well, we can now wait to see what changes Obama will bring to his country. It will be a tough row to hoe for him, all the way, I am sure. I am just so glad that the Dems took the House and the Senate as well. It would be so totally useless if the Rebs had the majority in either or both of those.
ReplyDeleteI want to see a black lesbian elected, so that gayness will infect all of us, and the birthrate will plummet, but at least we will all go out stylishly and with rhythm!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but only the extinction of the human race will forestall the extinction of everything else.....
I've always argued with people who speak ill of 'young people'.
ReplyDeleteSo delighted to see that they are getting it right.
Good post Donnn.
HE, the apples never fall far from the tree.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone just talked the talk, but also walked the walk..and taught their children to walk the path too.
You wrote:
If I drove straight South from my home I would drive through Republican Red States all the way to Mexico.
But you would still be driving through a United States of America. With rights to chose. States that may have voted with a percentage of Republicans a bit higher than Democrats, but stop off for a moment at this Redneck's house and you would find a family that 90% of it's members voted, and 100% of their votes were cast for Obama.
I knew my States electoral votes would go to McCain but I still felt I had a voice, that for once, my vote really mattered.I was really proud to be a part of this election.
63,607,129... I'm one of them.
to speak to your final question...
ReplyDeleteno. not even e-phn close.
Times have changed. I'm so proud and glad to have been a part of it all. I'm even prouder of the fact that the young voters finally showed up and exercised their right to vote. I voted Obama, though I suspected McCain would take the majority of Texas. I was ecstatic when Obama was declared the winner; I was moved when he gave his speech.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think the new generation has risen and decided to take part in the gov't and make it their own. Change only happens with hard work; democracy works when we participate. And America takes a positive step forward for living up to it's founding ideals: liberty, freedom, and equality.
The Old Boys Club members aren't on their way out; they're getting old and dying!
Obama who?
ReplyDeletei thought about you today, he, wondering how you would feel about this historic election. your post is quite thought-provoking. i liked it alot.
ReplyDeletefeeling more hopeful? hell yes!
YES it is. But it's happening quietly and subversively. No media. That Obama was elected is a reflection of the changes that have begun as a whisper. It's quite exciting!
ReplyDeletevery very interesting.
ReplyDeletei do hope south africa's younger generations start paying attention... middle aged white voters in this country seem very apathetic and often seem to have decided that it'll make no difference so they don't bother voting. and that passes on to their kids.
i am hoping i can inspire damien to think differently, we go to the poles in may next year.
Obama is a reflection of global CHANGE...a change in mentalities and perceptions. I LIKE IT!
ReplyDeleteKeshi.
has he made any changes yet then? He has had a day at least, what's he done so far?
ReplyDeleteI await the great changes with eager interest and (a little) hope in my heart and an eye to the East.
ReplyDeleteIf the Republicans hadn't had the odd couple I'm sure they would have done a lot better.
ReplyDeleteOver 40% of women and half of men still voted for them. Those are disgusting statistics.
The Old Boys Club is not really on its way out, I'm afraid. It will take them some time to find their way out.
ReplyDeleteThey're still here to remind us that what has just happened is -at the moment- exceptional.
Change will be on the way when, out of political correctness, we're not anymore surprised about real equal opportunities for men and women.
(*I remember some years ago, I was watching on the TV a chapter of the series '24' -you must have seen it too-. One of the characters was an afroamerican President, and the person I was with said about this: 'It's like a sci-fi movie', just meaning this could never be possible.
Luckily, truth is stranger than fiction.
I second MJ, and would love to see a black woman elected. That would definitely mean that the Old Boys Club is over. ;)
donn, write about MC... ok. u must. :)
ReplyDeletebtw Donno I need ur highly honored, preciously valued and most seeked opinion in my current post :)
ReplyDeleteKeshi.
I was talking with a friend the other day, and he could remember being at school when Jesse Jackson was running in 1988, and thinking "this guy talks a lot of sense... but they're not going to let him win, are they?"
ReplyDeleteI was moved to see the lengths of the lines, and the smiles on the faces this Tuesday. Si, se puede. Yes, we can.
I think the cause was helped greatly by Governor Pitbull's willingness to appeal to people's fears, and insult people who think. It backfired. Turns out there are millions of Americans who would rather use their brains and help their neighbours, and hope.
You can't say "Barack, you da man" without saying "Barracuda".
Just so you know: over on the Fox News website, people are discussing why McCain lost. It's because Obama is the Anti-Christ.
ReplyDeletehttp://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/11/04/youdecide_11042/
In three months time everyone will suddenly realize that Obama is not the Great Black Hope or the Great Black Antichrist but just a guy, and the cynical jokes and 'i knew it all along-s' will start up. This guy has just been handed the worst mess anyone since the Emperor Constantine has ever inherited and he's going to mess up. suddenly all those 'sinister middle eastern connections' will be uppermost on everyones mind. Support the guy, make sure the Secret Service does their job so he doesn't get assassinated before he gets a chance, and quit expecting miracles, folks. its only just started. the excitements' over.now the shitty, hard work begins.
ReplyDeleteOLD KNUDSEN
ReplyDeleteI am well pleased to have finally found someone upon whom we may lay blame for Global Warming.
I agree that people need a strong leader in tough times..someone who will make tough choices and force the great unwashed to stay the course. People will naturally gravitate to the easy way out and they love short term thinking.
PONY GIRL
Hopefully the Yanks will not expect miracles from the getgo..what really needs to change is the way we live in North America. We waste so much time and energy trying to live as if there is no tomorrow..which might happen if we keep it up.
THE MICHAEL
If all the Humans were somehow removed, and we might find a way to do that on our own or with the help of microbes, but Life On Earth would flourish...
the forests, deserts, and jungles, would reclaim the cities and within a few hundred years there would not be any trace of us.
We ARE the problem.
KAZ
For Centuries our Civilizations have argued that the next Generation was going to screw it all up...
and yet somehow we have managed to make progress so obviously this theory is wrong.
I just wish that we were a little faster at learning from our mistakes.
LDAHL
You did notice that it reads egregious oversimplification and I deserve your admonishment for exagerrating the redness of Middle America. I know that it was pretty close but close only counts in hand grenades and darts right?
I have no doubt that you, and many others, walked the walk too...
I went out of my way to expose the folly of my generation's addiction to avarice and superficiality and my twenty somethings "get it". There is more to life than stuff.
KATHERINE
ReplyDeleteIt was rhetorical..however the New Boss isn't quite the same as the Old Boss is he?
For one thing he is coming at the job from the other angle. Not from privilege and maintaining the status quo, but duty and an opportunity to change the system..which won't be easy..
Washington needs an enema.
EROSWINGS
They are dying off but they keep grooming replacement Neo-Cons! We know why they always need to make a lot of them.. because most get caught up in scandals which the public hails as a great victory and then forgets(???)
an hour later when they elect the next right wing nutjob?
STEVE
Obama-rama-lama-ding-dong!
KJ
You should be rejoicing.
Over the years I have come to appreciate that the American News Media overwhelms it's Citizens with a grandiose messianic Nationalism...America was put here to save the world from itself.
Now in the early days of the 21st Century the rest of the world is more suspicious and afraid of what America might do..as opposed to how it might help.
Thanks to the election of a moderate like Obama, many corners of the planet may look to the USA as part of the solution and NOT THE ACTUAL PROBLEM.
GILLETTE
It's prolly better to slowly bring this simmering change to a boil instead of just NUKING it in a microwave!
When you are changing minds on the ground floor, you need to use some elbow grease and move furniture to really clean out the corners.
Dude: Rock the vote, Mr. Coppens. A mighty paradox it were: our man BHO rolled through California, while Prop 8 passes. I don't like them demographics, brother. Of course, BHO and Joe the Senator doing the civil union but not marriage minuet did not help things, though it was fun to watch Joltin' Joe trap the Pa(L)in into an inadvertent agreement with even his milquetoast position, during their "debate": she looked like she'd just eaten something nasty in the woodshed.
ReplyDeleteRave on, brother.
You did get on a roll there, didn't you?
ReplyDeleteI think we'll get there, but we sure are movely slowly. Still this election makes me enormously hopeful.