I write for a small town newspaper in the western mountains of North Carolina, and tried to poll the small town before the election. There were similarities between my results and the actual voting on Election Day, and the exit polls results in states like Ohio and Florida and the actual vote tallies for Bush and Kerry.
The flawed way in which I conducted my poll has led me to believe that a significant percentage of Bush voters were ashamed of their vote.
1. Buncombe County in Western North Carolina is a strongly registered Democratic County; we have both Dixiecrats and liberals here. Two weeks before the election I polled a small town inside Buncombe County. Being a single reporter and responsible for 6-8 news stories an issue for the weekly paper, I conducted the poll in manner which was easiest to me. I handed out over 300 polls to public schools teachers, to retirement homes, to town employees, and to private employers. Two days later I collected 127 polls that had been completed. Kerry - 55%, Bush - 39 %, Undecided - 6%. But on Election Day, Bush narrowly won in Buncombe County 51% - 49%. Although my numbers were off significantly, my poll did reflect the voting trends for the Democratic ticket, that Gov. Easley and Patsy Keever had more support than Kerry or Erskine Bowles.
I have been wondering why my poll was so far off, as I have been wondering why the exit polls in Ohio and Florida were so far off. I am willing to entertain the idea that there has been some election fraud, but I think equally likely that a significant percentage of Bush supporters did not want their political views publicly known.
Why? They were not proud their vote.
2. If this theory is true, then why did Americans vote for Bush? Was it because of moral values? The war on terror?
Simply, Americans don't, "know when to hold them, and know when to fold them."
The biggest example of this phenomenon is in the stock market. American investors are coached to sell winners and keep losers. Investors are told to cash in on their winnings, and that they only lose on a stock if they sell it while it is low, so it is better keep a hold of it.
Sure, Americans voted for Bush for moral values, and because of the war of terror, but also because they didn't want to cash in on a falling stock. If Bush creates a viable democracy in Iraq, which spreads across the Middle East and stops terrorism, then all the diabolical horrors of this Administration (lying to go to war, torture, denying rights to individuals, civilian casualties, etc...) will be forgotten and forgiven. But if we changed president at this time, then America in general, and Bush supporters in particular, would have to come to terms with the fact that the U.S. has grown into a power that is not benign but malignant.
3. Now, the counter argument to this issue of shame is that Bush supporters do not trust or like the media, that's why some refused to be polled.
But "Denial" in not only a river in Egypt. That is the main reason why the moral crusade of this election was so important to the current administration's winning the election. Ask children in conservative Christian communities what they know about Kerry, and they will say, "Kerry kills babies." No kidding. Bush maybe a warmonger, but Kerry kills babies, and Kerry wants to destroy the institution of marriage and the American family. Yes, it is insane, but conservative Christian voters needed the moral assurance that they were voting for the "good" candidate, even if their assurances came from fantasyland.
4. What now? As we here about more torture allegations, about more civilians casualties, more troop casualties, what now? We will ride on the dark river of denial through the night. We will ride on and on until all is bad and none is good.