What is becoming more obvious by the day is that America is facing a major split politically over the nation’s future. It will show up in the results of the Presidential Election of 2012.
A gender gap, already present, is growing, between the majority of women, who vote Democratic, and the majority of men, who vote Republican.
An age gap is also widening, as younger voters tend to trend toward the Democrats, while senior citizens seem afraid of the future, including the racial changes coming in the population, and are tending Republican, even though the Republicans should be seen as a threat to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
There is also an obvious racial gap, with the majority of whites voting Republican, while the majority of African Americans and Hispanics-Latinos are voting Democratic.
This split, along gender, age, and racial lines presents many challenges to the winner of the election, and indicates the stresses and tensions within the nation, as we see an aging white population, and an emerging, much younger and growing minority community becoming the major factor in the future of American politics. It also shows the growing conflict between men and women over their roles in American society, as women become the challenge to men’s dominance economically.
The old traditions are being upended by a changing dynamic that will affect policy making in the future. And it will also affect both the Democrats and Republicans as they come to grips with the political future. The party which accepts the future will dominate, while the party that resists the future will suffer!