Election Really Does Signal a Move to the Left

Dems have built a new coalition of professionals, minorities, women
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 5, 2008 6:00 PM CST
Election Really Does Signal a Move to the Left
Supporters of President-elect Barack Obama cheer in the streets of downtown Chicago last night.   (AP Photo)

Don’t believe the voices warning Barack Obama to go slow and stick to the center because America remains conservative. There’s every reason to believe we’ve undergone a fundamental realignment, writes John B. Judis in the New Republic. The long shift toward a post-industrial economy has rearranged the playing field, producing a new Democratic coalition of professionals, minorities, and women.

Professionals broke overwhelmingly for Obama, and the urban-suburban areas they occupy were the centers of his support. It’s these “ideopolises” that flipped Virginia and Colorado. Of the states with the highest percentages of advanced-degree holders, Obama won the top 19. The result is a drastically new political outlook. Notes Judis: “Unlike Carter and Clinton, Obama will be taking office with the wind at his back, rather than in his face.” (More Election 2008 stories.)

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