In the chic salons of Manhattan and the trendy bistros of Los Angeles they are saying they same thing. "How could Bush have won?" ponder the elitist vanguard of the left-wing status quo. "I don't know a single person who voted for him."
On the networks -- 12 hours after the rest of us realized that John Kerry had fallen -- Dan Rather scribbles permutations on colored Post-It notes in an attempt to prove to himself that his chosen man could still take the day.
Surfing about, I noted talking heads all agog over how they missed it. In the aftermath of the election, they behave with professorial demeanor, wondering how their certainty of a Democratic victory went up in flames.
"What we don't realize is that there's a huge segment of the country that doesn't think like us," states one well-coifed anchor, his voice dripping with derision and condescension. "We can never understand the people who like their guns and their pick-up trucks and their Nascar."
That comment, as much as anything else, explains why George Bush was re-elected with the largest percentage of the popular vote since 1968.
The pretty TV man was stating that those such as he - the elites, the sophisticates -- can never comprehend the lowly mental horsepower of folk who shop at Wal-Mart, belong to a bowling league, sometimes attend church and still believe that the United States is far superior to the socialist enclaves of Europe.
To the TV anchor, working stiffs and Joe Six-Packs are the "great unwashed." They don't read the New York Times, utter sly chuckles at the cartoons in the New Yorker or spend $400 bucks on a pair of shoes. They like a beer and a steak, read the funny pages on Sunday morning and think a day of chips and NFL is a dandy ol' time.
Such being the case, they are not worthy of respect.
The election of 2004 was not just a case of Bush versus Kerry. It was a contest of city versus country, blue collar versus white collar, arrogant elitist versus good ol' boy.
It was class warfare in the deepest of trenches, but even after being whipped, dipped and hung out to dry, the high and mighty of the left STILL don't get it. They cannot comprehend how and why they were whomped by a bunch of hicks.
Thus, allow me to enlighten. You see, the people whom America's Brahmins view as yokels and slack-jaws didn't just vote against Kerry the man. They voted against what Kerry stood for.
They voted against arrogant, pseudo-intellectuals who try and mandate how the imbecilic members of the middle-class caste should live, act and think. They voted against pompous, urban know-it-alls who feel they have carte blanche to halt farming, ranching, logging and mining in an attempt to save an endangered species of toad.
They voted against those who want to take their guns...and not just the ones they hunt with. They voted against the snobs, the egocentric, the self-righteous.
They voted against the jerks...and they did it brilliantly.
The "average" citizen of American voted against those whom John Kerry labeled the "heart and soul" of America. They voted against the traitorous pig Michael Moore and that Whoopity Goldberg woman. They voted against Bill Maher, Barbra Streisand, Alec Baldwin, Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Cher, Rosie O'Donnell and the whole damn cast of "Friends."
They voted against "celebrities" who were rude and crude, those who profaned George Bush and his family with the most foul of commentary at each and every opportunity.
The election wasn't just Bush versus Kerry. It was "Us versus Them."
Oh...there were issues aplenty. And on each one the families from Flyover Country took a stance diametrically opposed to the upper crust.
The latter view Europe as a Socialist utopia which all should strive to emulate. The former view it as a place with bad plumbing and body odor. The latter are enamored with, and a desire to appease, anyone who claims a lineage harboring at least one duke, baron or Third World, French-speaking exporter of bat guano. The former couldn't give a damn what Europe thinks, wouldn't trust Kofi Annan to wash their truck.
Hell, they want to resign from the U.N., boot out the tenants and convert the real estate into a Bass Pro Shop.
When it comes to war, the "normal" American believes in big bombs, not big words. They want country music and armor piercing bullets, whereas the intelligentsia wants to practice diplomacy, hum Kumbaya and surrender.
The Nascar crowd intrinsically realizes Saddam was a terrorist, understands Iraq is part of the bigger war on terror. In case you forgot (and judging by the voting totals, many in the Northeast did just that) they'll remind you the radical Muslims attacked us...not vice versa.
The residents of our two distinct Americas reside within the confines of different economies and social strata. It's not that Flyover Folk disagree with the values of the hoity-toity, it's more that they believe the pampered and feckless are bereft of values, their ethical compass spinning like a narcissistic top.
They see the elites as merely paying lip service to that which is convenient and faddish, proving to the neighbors they sup heartily on the ideological flavor of the week, feeling nothing but a need to impress.
The commoners? They are more traditional. Quite a lot are religious, but many are content to make a living, watch the tube and catch a long nap on Saturday. The "God, guns and guts" contingent is often poor but happy. The cocktail, Commies and Cadillac club is often rich and in therapy.
And the Limousine Liberals STILL don't get it. They think the Bush victory is an anomaly, even though they've been humiliated twice in four years.
They will lose again and again, firm in the resolve that good breeding always wins the day. The clay-eaters, rubes and mouth-breathers of "Flyover Country" will never surpass them, they think, for they lack class, culture and social contacts.
As for the aforementioned po' white trash...they are laughing. They don't have much cash. They don't have health insurance. They don't take cruises. They don't have designer labels.
All they've got is the Senate, the House, the Oval Office and a grin that spreads from ear to ear.
