The Liberal Majority

In 1968 Richard Nixon called on the “Silent Majority” to stand up and have their voices heard.

For forty years this conservative base has dominated American politics and given Republicans the Presidency and Congress time and time again. Democrats that have risen to power have only done so through being white southerner centrists. This silent majority has decided the direction of our country for several decades.

That all ended on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 when Barack Obama and the new liberal majority took power.

Welcome to Liberal Land

Over the last few weeks many magazines and pundits have called America a center-right nation, and that liberal politicians have always had to move towards the center in order to get anything done. While I do agree that a President has to govern from the center, I heartily disagree with the notion that America is an inherently conservative or centrist conservative country. Perhaps it has something to do with growing up in a generation full of people who are eager for change, or living in one of the more liberal states in the nation. But I have always thought that when it comes down to the ISSUES, America is, was, and always will be a liberal country.

The only reason that this “silent majority” has been in power for so long is because of a successful smear campaign by the right wing about the very nature of American liberalism. The term itself has become synonymous with communism, socialism, godlessness, and a lack of patriotism. Republican strategists have painted liberals as something wicked and something to be feared, and they have been successful up until now.

I have always believed that there were more liberals in America than conservatives or moderates, but that up until now, they have been too apathetic to sway politics.

For too long peace-freaks, Latinos, African-Americans, and blue collar workers sat on the sidelines and decided to abstain from a choice between two evils. But now we are finally seeing these groups come together and get involved in the process, and most importantly, get out and vote.

We will never sit out another election to get high and drink a latte. We will never again say that it doesn’t matter who is President, that our votes don’t matter, that things will never change.

This is the true silent majority in America.

This is the sound of them waking up.