If ads saturate the networks before the elections, punditry clogs the airwaves right after. This year brought us a much-repeated pearl from Fox News guru, Bill O’Reilly.
Why did his side lose the elections? According to O’Reilly, because of shifting demographics, “It’s not a traditional America anymore,” he said, “and there are 50 percent of the voting public who want stuff.” They figured his side wasn’t going to give it to them.
It’s true, Mr. O’Reilly, voters do want STUFF:
S: Security in employment, retirement and the environment.
T: Tax fairness and transparency.
U: Universal access to voting, health care, education and broadband.
F: Families – being able to support them AND care for them.
F: Fairness for workers, taxpayers, immigrants, and all who’ve been left out of the American dream.
Specifically, voters want public policies that will help them gain this STUFF. And many will stay organized after the elections to make sure those policies are put in place.
These Americans may not look like Mr. O’Reilly’s friends and family. But ‘non-traditional voters’ – people of color, women, youth, the ones targeted by voter suppression efforts and disproportionately clustered in low-paying, inflexible jobs – are fighting for the finest American traditions of democracy and opportunity for all.
