Race (color) is one category in assessing voting patterns, but by no means the most important. Here are some that are more likely to affect voting.
Income: Money is power and those who can afford more advertising have a better chance of winning, which gives them more time to favor the wealthy and thus win in the next election. No system in world history has solved the issue of the rich getting richer and the poor becoming poorer, but some smaller societies ruled by clan leadership have come closer to what we call democracy.
Gender: Because our Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade on the issues surrounding abortion, more women, both Democrat and Republican, will vote for Kamala Harris. Ascribing the decisions about abortion to the states creates more confusion. Trying to control what women and their advisors decide about their own health issues is the issue-- not whether women’s choices are controlled by states or by the central government.
Education: A college education usually helps in finding a good job--and with higher pay. The latter being more necessary if your student loan is outstanding. People with more education are not smarter than those without, but end up depending on basics(food, home repairs, transportation and much more) from those who may be “less educated.” People with PhDs/Doctors are not more intelligent than others but know a great deal more about their own specialty. Some years ago, an anecdote on media had a blue collar worker say that he and his wife had worked hard to save money to send their son to a liberal arts college. They succeeded and by his sophomore year, his father bemoaned that ‘his son had become liberal!"
Location: Statistics tell us that as we move from urban to suburban to rural, the general trend in voting goes from progressive to moderate to conservative—irrespective of other factors. For example, Black citizens of Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, etc., are more likely to vote Democrat. The same goes for other voters centered in the cities regardless of race and other factors.*
Age: This is harder to classify since people in the whole age spectrum fit into many of the categories noted above. College students have been much in the news recently for demonstrating vigorously on behalf of Gazans in the “Hundred years war” between Israel and Palestinians. Age, education, family background, and much more access to global news with their cyber skills explains some of their actions. Also, our media gets more viewers/listeners when there is conflict: “If the news bleeds, it leads” and often dominates. Most of the recent news was about student encampments in tents on campuses threatening commencement plans. We heard little about Brown University’s administrators promising the student leaders of their campus encampment that they could present their cause to the next meeting of the Trustees if they disassembled so that commencement could take place. The students agreed.
Religion: This is the most complex of all categories and many disagree over what “separation of religion and state” means. Many signers of our Constitution had fled their countries in Europe over religious divisions and insisted that such conflict be avoided in what became the USA. Almost every religious denomination has the same divisions as we have politically—Liberals to Conservatives. What most distinguishes religions from each other is their form of governing; that is their way of making decisions and establishing some form of hierarchy.**
Roman Catholics have a Holy Father in Rome (Pope) and power is at the top. Congregationalists have power centered in their congregations, United Methodists and others have bishops, Presbyterians have Presbyteries, Synods, and a General Assembly –and so forth. Interpreting what the Bible means for today’s living in a just society is as controversial as our Supreme Court’s interpreting what our Constitution means for our political life today. The more conservative members in any religion, even the women, are more apt to use scripture’s attitude toward women to approve the overturn of Roe versus Wade.
Our largest religious community consists of the “the daughters and sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael”—Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Many other religious traditions enrich our diversity.
All the above categories—and more—must be taken seriously as we soon approach our November 2024 elections. It looks like the choice will be an accomplished Prosecutor of liars versus a Persecutor of truth tellers!***
I am not a poet; and you will know it when you read my closing lines of the op-ed:
Kamala Can
Joe and Jill went to The Hill
To make our world more just Joe’s doing well
And so is Jill In Kamala we’ll soon trust****
*It is hardly surprising that former president Trump often shares his negative feelings about voters in our big cities.
**Hierarchy is of Latin origin, meaning Holy or Sacred (hier);+Archy (order). Hieroglyphics suggest that many ancient Egyptians believed that writing had holy significance.
***Both prosecutor and persecutor have a common origin in a Latin word meaning “to follow, pursue.” Persecute later developed a sense of harassing, including mistreatment based on race or religion.
****At he time I wrote this column, Kamala Harris had not chosen a vice presidental running mate.