George Graham

Who are the 50 Percent and What are They Thinking?

Poll after poll shows America evenly divided. For example, approximately half of the voters say they will give Barack Obama a second term. Approximately half say they will vote for Mitt Romney. Yes, I know, the figures go up and down from poll to poll, but basically, it’s pretty much a fifty-fifty proposition.

It seems most issues reflect the same division. There’s seldom much more than 50 percent one way or another on anything.

Even in Wisconsin, where that unspeakable governor, Scott Walker, is facing a recall, the polls show about 50 percent of the voters give him a favorable rating.

How can that be?

Who are Walker’s supporters? What do they see in him?

Walker and his aides are being investigated for various kinds of unethical behavior, and his administration has been a calamity for the state. I wouldn’t expect to find one Wisconsin voter who wants to keep him in office.

So who are the 50 percent? And what do they want?

I cannot believe they are so susceptible that the flood of Koch brothers money touting Walker on the airwaves has influenced their thinking.

I can’t imagine some campaign commercial influencing my vote, can you?

Those commercials attacking the president couldn’t possibly make me change my mind. They only make me change the channel.

The way I see it, a radical assault on the rights of Americans is underway, and the Republican Party is behind it.

How could American women vote for a party that wants to take control of their bodies and deny them basic health care?

How could American workers vote for a party that is attacking their right to join a union and promoting policies that put their jobs in jeopardy?

How could members of ethnic minorities in America vote for a party that has implemented voter suppression laws in state after state in a transparent attempt to disenfranchise them?

How could immigrant Americans – or the relatives of would-be immigrants – vote for a party that is intent on harassing immigrants and people who look like immigrants?

How could American retirees vote for a party that plans to demolish Medicare in the long term and drastically increase Medicare copayments in the short term?

How could gay, lesbian or transgendered Americans vote for a party whose leaders proclaim them an abomination to the Lord and refuse to acknowledge their civil rights?

How could people who say they are Christians vote for a party that wants to bomb Iran and build a mighty army that would intimidate the rest of the world? And pay for it by taking the food out of the mouths of hungry children?

The way I see it, the only Americans represented by the Republican Party are male, white, rich, straight, Puritanical and mean spirited.

Do you mean to tell me they make up half the population?

Or are there a lot of Americans who have been bamboozled into supporting a party that is brazenly attacking their civil rights and undermining their ability to make a living and live a normal life?

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com