Emil Sotirov

Kerry would help the poor… the poor vote Kerry. Bush would continue to help the rich… the rich vote Bush. A no-brainer – right?

Now read this (full transcript):

“WHITAKER: …And one of the interesting kind of sidelines to this election is you’re going to have more people voting against what would seem like their immediate economic interest in this election… Kerry — people who earn — in households that earn over $100,000 support by a significant majority Kerry even though Kerry has said he’s going to raise their taxes.LARRY KING: Isn’t that the Republican base?

WHITAKER: Meanwhile, Bush enjoys a lead among lower educated and lower income families despite the fact that it’s Kerry who said that he’s going to raise the minimum wage and provide healthcare for everybody.

DAVID GERGEN: …The president is doing very well among people with high school educations or below. John Kerry surprisingly, seems to have gained the support of the college educated…“

What’s going on here!

Well, may be the rich and educated are, counterintuitively, good enough (and smart enough) to want to help the poor and uneducated. That, I understand and applaud.

But why in the world would the poor vote for Bush!?

As Bill Maher would put it: “It’s the religion, stupid.”

And he would be right:

“SCHNEIDER: But, you know, if you had to ask people one question to identify how they vote it wouldn’t be man or woman, it wouldn’t be their income or their education. You know what one question best predicts their vote? How often do you go to church? If you go to church regularly, you vote Republican and that’s become more and more true since 1980. If you don’t go to church regularly, you’re very likely to vote Democratic.“

I don’t go to church regularly. In fact, I don’t go to church at all. I’ve always thought myself a Christian – culturally. Here is my take on Christianity: once we get (internalize) the “love” idea and the moral values (which we do by way of all of our tradition), we eventually (historically) become “adults” that don’t need to be re-told the myth every day or week. The measure of our integrity is our capability to think and act morally without relying on the ongoing support, approval, and blessings of our “Higher Father”. That’s the real test and difficulty of being a Christian – we are supposed to have “graduated”. This is the “freedom=responsibility” idea. This is the core and the historical strength of Christianity. Or at least, that’s my understanding.

Now, the good news:

“KING: So, don’t more Americans go to church regularly and shouldn’t Bush be further ahead?SCHNEIDER: No, about 40 percent of Americans say they go to church every week and that they’re very religious.

KING: But they’re a minority.“

Yes, Larry, fortunately they are a minority… and hopefully, they will stay a minority. Because a churchgoing majority with nuclear weapons is not “a good thing” (oh no, even from prison, she’s controlling my mind).