On Monday night, Sept. 10, I was in downtown Chicago lecturing a class about how politically divided Americans were.
I showed them polls from the 2000 election. The popular vote was a virtual tie, but the 50-50 outcome masked deep divisions within our country. Whole regions, religious affiliations and ethnic subgroups seemed to be voting strongly in one direction, while other groups voted strongly the opposite way.
African-Americans said they voted for Gore by a 90 to nine margin. Whites said they supported Bush by about 54 to 42. Mormons and observant white evangelicals voted for Bush by 88 to 12 and 84 to 16 margins, respectively, while Jews supported Gore by 77 to 23. Among white Southerners, Bush clobbered Gore by 35 points. Gore, meanwhile, was sweeping liberal enclaves like Evanston with around 70 percent of its votes.
Bush’s job approval ratings reflected this trend. They’ve been in the mid-50s since inauguration, but one July poll showed that self-identified Republicans gave Bush 92 percent approval, while Democrats pledged only 25 percent support.
I am glad, in light of what happened the next morning, that I then qualified all these numbers. While the political divisions in our country were wide, I noted, they might not be very deep. On Election Day, Americans disagreed about controversial issues like abortion, gun control and gay rights. But the aftermath of Sept. 11 shows that we also share a reservoir of common understandings. Among them, we mostly share a faith that it is good to disagree, that we must have the freedom to differ strongly about our beliefs, and that all peoples worldwide should try to resolve their disputes in a non-violent fashion.
Simple ideas like these have helped unite us, at least temporarily. Bush’s job approval now stands around 86 percent. While anyone is free to criticize him, Bush must now confront some of the most terrifying ideologues since the Third Reich. If the culprits are Osama bin Laden’s men, their goals go further than to criticize American imperialism (which for the true Islamic world is a credible charge and deserves discussion). They appear to genuinely desire a massive battle between America and Islam, and (they hope) a final victory whereupon Everyone Will Think Like Them.
Against such maniacs, we should stand united, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. In what may be more painful days ahead, we should take pride in this united status and draw whatever comfort we can from it. We as Americans should stand together so we can as swiftly as possible get back to those blessed divisions that marked us prior to Sept. 11.
I say blessed, because it’s obvious to me that, on Monday night, I did not realize how good we had it. There are worse things than disagreement. If this is the cost of unity, it’s too steep a price to pay.
It was a good politics we had before Sept. 11, with all the partisan bickering and complaints that one group or another was betraying the American dream. In the end, we knew, we would resolve any dispute without the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians. We must be willing to make any sacrifice necessary to reclaim that luxurious, innocent, divided society.
