George W. Bush was re-elected Tuesday. Many people were surprised, disappointed and angry-especially here at FAMU.
But there were a few not the least bit shocked, one of them being me. In fact, some of us predicted it. However my prediction wasn’t based on numbers it was based on the things that most people didn’t talk about. So I’m here to inform the public.
First off, all the touring, buttons, posters and commercials cost millions of dollars that didn’t come out of either candidate’s pockets. They threw dinner parties and other social events to fund their campaigns by charging guests to get in or $500 per dinner plate and $300 per glass of wine.
So who do you think attended those parties?
The upper-middle class. The upper class. And rich people, known as the $250,000 plus income bracket. Therefore, when Bush or Kerry got up to deliver a speech they were only dealing with the issues that concerned those people.
The difference between Bush and Kerry though is that Bush realized everyone was not going to like him no matter what he stood for. That is why he didn’t try to please everyone. He targeted those who attended his socials and made promises to them. For instance he guaranteed that there would never be another terrorist attack on U.S. soil and that he would never raise taxes for his target voting bloc.
On the other side, Kerry said that he hoped to do things and that he was going to try to do things. His indecisiveness is what eventually led him to not being elected. People want a man in office who is going to make decisions and stick with them, whether the outcome is good or bad. He tried to please both sides and he couldn’t. People realized that and it hurt him in the polls.
Bush took the issues in his campaign past politics. He told the world how he found God during his past drinking problems and turned his life around. That went very well with many Christian voters. He also told the people how his faith caused him to oppose abortions and same sex marriages. So while Kerry was for both, most southern and mid-western states considered very religious areas voted in favor of Bush.
But the question that many ask is, “Why didn’t all poor or middle class people vote for the democratic candidate?”
Well, that is why those socials and dinner parties are so important. All of the people who attended may have had a large influence on their middle class and lower class employees through some type of means.
Think about it, if your boss was a Bush or Kerry supporter and had posters and other campaign materials at the workplace it may not make you vote like your boss but a lot of people at the job would.
In the end, we don’t know what the next four years has in store for us. We do know that Republicans are making moves to keep a Republican in office for a long time.
We also know that it is going to be hard to get better education and healthcare when the U.S. has such a big deficit.
And as for our future president, it has gotten so bad that if a candidate can keep two men from getting married, money in already-too-fat-pockets and you and your kids out of school and in Iraq it doesn’t matter who wins.
If that’s all it takes, I might run for president. But wait I’m a B not a C student and my father never held office.
Arize Ifejika is a general studies student from Washington, D.C.. Contact him at arize_ifejika@yahoo.com.