A Fractured America? (page 4 of 4)

The New Silent Majority

But if the blue state expectation is that red staters are homophobic, if not overtly anti-gay, the Cambres gave that bias a jolt.

While Steve opposes gay marriage, he's "okay with civil unions." And he feels strongly that gays should not be discriminated against. "Everybody should be treated equally," he says. "What they do in their private life is their own business." Anita adds that, in their tolerant attitude toward gays, "maybe Steve and I are the odd men out in the South."

Not really, according to Gallup polling. Even in the socially conservative South, four in ten people surveyed thought homosexual relations should be legal. And nationwide, nearly nine in ten say homosexuals should have equal job opportunities.

The Catteralls were relieved to find more than just acceptance of their gay daughter and her partner, who came to Clinton on a three-day visit. "Lisa and Tina didn't know what to expect," says James, "but everyone treated them warmly right from the start. And there were hugs at the end when they left."

Looking at recent national polling, more Americans say gay relations should be legal than illegal (by 49% to 44%), with younger people especially accepting of these relationships. What about those activist delegates at the 2004 political conventions? Asked if gay couples should be denied legal recognition, there was a large gap -- 44 percentage points -- between their responses.

That tells you who gay and anti-gay activists are speaking to when they describe a nation in the grip of either cruel bigots or culture-wrecking perverts: the fellow activists who constitute the political "base." As for the rest of the country, Morris Fiorina has concluded that, even when it comes to gay marriage and civil unions, relatively few Americans "have any wish for a vitriolic conflict over the issue."

The Cambres and Catteralls got into plenty more discussions that highlighted splits between conservatives and liberals. The Iraq war was high on the agenda, as were debates over tax cuts and gun control. But those are the sorts of policy disputes we've had since the country's founding. It's a stretch for anyone to claim that matters of war and peace, or taxation, or gun rights are components of a newly erupted "culture war."

Liberals and conservatives do differ significantly on any number of issues. But as a nation, we're still more bound together than torn apart. And the centrist core might well grow larger, according to William Frey, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in demographic trends. "If you look at which areas of the country are losing residents and which ones are attracting them, you'll see that people from red and blue states are blending together in more and more communities. Over time, this could moderate the politics in some of the more partisan places."

So the sexy story may be that there's an all-out war between red and blue, but the bigger news is about the forgotten middle. These centrists lack power and influence, but they've got the numbers. Put another way, America has spawned a new silent majority.

From Reader's Digest - November 2005

 

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• George W. Bush: Standing His Ground
• President Bush is unyielding in his vision for America. To voters, that's either high praise or a huge problem.
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• George W. Bush On the Record
• President Bush discusses his plans for his second term.
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• John Kerry On the Record
• Kerry discusses his concerns for the country.
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• John Kerry: Back Into Battle
• War hero and war protester, John Kerry has to prove he's the right man for the nation's toughest job.
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• McCain and Biden: How To Win In Iraq
• Two Senators give their plans for victory.
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