Liberal Values Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought

Some Republicans are in such denial over why they lost that they cannot conceive that it was because they have the wrong policies, and that many voters realized that the Republicans based their campaign upon smears which are counter to fact. In the previous post I quoted a Republican who believed that Jews did not vote Republican because they were “dumb” and “delusional.”  Crooks and Liars and Nate Silver have found a similar case where conservatives are arguing that Obama voters were “ignorant.” Their measure of ignorance is that Obama voters do not believe that the debunked smears against Obama are fact.

It would be interesting to give a similar test to McCain voters. The Pew Research Center has already established the fact that viewers of Fox News are much less informed than viewers of The Daily Show. Besides likely having less knowledge about the issues, McCain voters would be more likely to believe the right wing smears which they asked about in the bogus poll they are promoting.

Besides the smears from this year’s campaign, they probably believe in many other discredited right wing myths. How many McCain voters still believe that there was WMD in Iraq, that Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks, that intelligent design is a valid alternative to evolution, that the scientific consensus on climate change is incorrect, or agree with John McCain that the United States was founded as a Christian nation?

The difference between Obama and McCain voters, as well as left and right, is not so much over differences in opinion but in being aware of the facts. We have seen that many conservatives, including members of the Reagan administration, have endorsed Obama. Those who are aware of the facts behind the current issues are more likely to have voted for Obama, while those who believe the right wing talking points, and believe their alternate reality, were more likely to vote for McCain. McCain even had a creationist as his running mate.

It is encouraging that a solid majority of Americans, especially those outside of the south, were able to see through the right wing smears and voted based upon reality as opposed to right wing fantasy.