Ideology in America is no longer- and may never have even been- the distinction between Democrats voting for Democrats and Republicans voting for Republicans. A majority of people, if asked today why they voted for Obama (or anyone in office at the local, state or federal government levels) would only be able to give you one reason or so, such as "healthcare" or "taxes". Most people don't even know what Obamacare really is, or how taxes affect them and their community.
Take a public opinion poll for example, say that a law was passed a pro-abortion law by 60% of the votes. Saying the 40% who voted no are Republicans would be wrong. Sure some of those 40% may have been Republicans, but some of that 40% were Democrats who maybe agree with every other "Democrat belief" just not abortion. There are thousands of so-called Democrats who voted for Romney this past election, maybe just because they didn't agree with Obama's support of abortion. Maybe they didn't look at all the other things he stands for that they would have agreed with.
Today, it is hard to label yourself as a Democrat or Republican unless you have the full knowledge and understanding of what your candidate supports, or what you believe is morally right. We mainly just hear things here and there about controversial topics and seem to just lean towards the candidate who supports the side we like best on a specific topic. Americans need to look deeper into the beliefs and values of Democrats and Republicans before labeling themselves.
I completely agree that it is hard to label yourself as a Democrat or Republican. In order to truly say someone is a Democrat or Republican takes a lot more than just listening to a news broadcast; they need to read into the countless issues of the government, figure out what they believe, and then figure out if their way of thinking is a Republican way or a Democrat way.
ReplyDeleteI love how you put this, I completely agree. Most people are not one side or the other many are just in the middle or believe in one or two ideals of the "other" side.
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