Post-Election Analysis, III

So who's to blame? Even asking the question makes clear why it's worth rethinking what makes this country tick.

It's true that a surge of voting from so-called Christian evangelical voters turned the tide in Ohio last week. And millions of Americans in exit-poll surveys said they identified with Bush's appeal to "values" — religious, patriotic, and otherwise.

But what seems indisputable is that more Americans, in an uncomfortable time, felt deeply insecure and vulnerable. That's very far from the picture of primitive, gun-toting, evolution-scorning backwoodsmen that excites condescension abroad.

The U.S. is divided, no doubt about it, but the divisions are not easily caricatured. Americans may be worried about the war in Iraq, but sizeable numbers remain convinced that battling "terrorism" there keeps the terrorists away from their shores.

{via}