Top 5 Electoral Losers

Yesterday we presented our list of the top five electoral winners. Today, Demockracy would like to present our list of the top losers from Tuesday’s election:

5. Reaganomics

Reaganomics or Trickle-Down Economics was a clear loser this past Tuesday. John McCain argued eloquently that the rich must not bear the burden, that wealth will trickle down, and that we must invest in the top tax brackets. As the theory goes, if we invest in these Americans, they will spend more, create more jobs for middle class Americans, etc.

Unfortunately for McCain, Americans rejected such voodoo economics and voted to spread the wealth around.

4. Older Americans

Those over 65 were the only age group to vote for Senator McCain. It makes sense since he is in their age bracket. However, there is likely more to this then commonalities in age. It seems that those preferences are, in the words of Bob Dylan, rapidly changing. As every traditionalist is ‘replaced’ by a baby boomer or two or three, this age bracket will become much more progressive.

3. The Deep South

If the Midwest was the winner of this election, and the Mountain West represents the future of the Democratic Party, then the Deep South represents the big loser and the past. Not only is the Republican Party on the path to becoming a regional party of the south (plus 6 or 7 smaller western states), but the Old South itself is shrinking. Because of demographic changes, both Virginia and North Carolina went blue for the first time since 1964 and 1976, respectively. These changes will only intensify and are likely eventually to turn Georgia blue in the next 15 years. What is left? Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Carolina. California alone has around the same number of electoral votes as the entire southern Republican base of the next decade.

2. Karl Rove

Was one electoral victory (2004) worth losing a generation of voters and forcing a political realignment that leaves your party in a semi-permanent minority state? Were four more years of George W. Bush really worth it? And here we thought Bill Clinton was bad for the Democratic Party.

1. Fear

Buoyed by millions of volunteers and the most progressive younger generation in over four decades, Americans picked hope over fear, progress over stagnation, and the future over the past.