For the past week or so, liberals on campus have been in a bit of a funk, and not without good reason.

Their hopes dashed after a stunning defeat last Tuesday, Democrats are in need of a bit of soul-searching. How could this have happened? How could Bush, the object of so much hate and anger, have been re-elected?

And he wasn’t just re-elected, but he was the first president since 1988 to win a true majority in the popular vote. Dubya didn’t just win Florida; he won big. Republicans didn’t just win the presidency, but they maintained control of both houses of Congress and gained four vital seats, including ousting Minority Leader Tom Daschle, in the Senate.

Twisting the logic of exit polls and manipulating their understanding of reality to best suit their own logic, as any political party is often prone to do, the Democrats blamed so-called values voters. These are people who supposedly cared more about things like gay marriage and abortion than the economy or the war in Iraq. Some have blamed fear in helping the Republicans as well; many believe they are more capable at defending this nation.

Both of these assessments are wrong, and by virtue of the very fact that these are the assessments being made by Democrats, they will continue to lose. In essence, the message boils down to a clear and simple point.

Get over yourselves, Democrats.

The elitism is nauseating. The self-righteousness makes even the most religious social conservatives seem cautious when speaking their minds. Religious faith is no match in terms of arrogance as supposed “intellectualism,” and Democrats prove this repeatedly. For all the alleged open-mindedness of the liberals, the fact that they cannot accept the idea that perhaps their proposals for change were rejected by a majority of the population is simply beyond their capacity. How dare the rednecks defy the vision of the anointed? How dare Republicans question their moral authority and logical infallibility?

Moreover, as if calling the other side stupid wasn’t bad enough, liberals love to blame ‘fear.’ Fear of death, fear of terrorism, fear of gays or fear of France. You name it, the Democrats want to blame it.

Let us not forget the fear tactics of the left, however: Republicans want to privatize social security! Republicans want to take away your ‘right to choose’ (one of the most hilarious and deceptive descriptions of an abortion imaginable, even for this pro-choice Bush voter)! Republicans want to start the draft!

Scared yet?

Democrats, you may say to yourselves right now that this doesn’t describe you, that I’m merely making gross generalizations. I’m making this up. Well, if that’s what you’re thinking, then liberals in this country have a lot of work ahead of them because these are the thoughts on the minds of many Bush voters. Regardless of whether or not you believe yourself to be open-minded, the perception of most of this country is the complete opposite. Simply the fact that you believe something does not in and of itself make it true.

Nevertheless, the Democrats will continue to blame this election’s crushing defeat, like many others, on some external force, as if fate itself were simply aligned against them as in an epic Greek tragedy. Until the Democrats can own up to their own weaknesses as a party and their unpopularity among a sizeable portion of the electorate, they will continue to lose.

Imagine if Kerry had won by exactly the same margin Bush had? We would have liberals screaming the word “mandate” at the top of their lungs. Bush lost big, they’d say. The GOP is dead, they’d say.

But when Bush wins, absolutely not. No mandate. No goodwill. The people were duped! It’s a scam! The bad guys win again! It is unacceptable for Bush ever to be seen as legitimate, just as any leader with whom they would disagree must prove to be as well for their world-view of moral perfection to remain intact.

It’s easier to blame it on the rednecks than to actually listen to what they have to say. It’s easier to blame homophobia than to actually respond to their concerns.

Did any Democrat actually stop to think that maybe, just maybe, people trusted Bush more to fight the war on terror because he’d actually do a better job than Kerry? Or that people actually believe that a strategy of preemption allows us to control the battle and will ultimately prove itself more effective? Or that the terrorists are merely beyond reproach for a peaceful resolution? Or that maybe people actually did believe that tax cuts were better for the economy than tax increases? Or that people might be somewhat wary of changing the definition of marriage, by pure judicial fiat, that had existed for the entire course of human history? Or that our health care system is superior to that of other nations precisely because it is privately run?

But these questions shouldn’t even be asked: the answer is obvious, right? No one in their right minds would ever believe any of those things. Right?

Keep on thinking that way, and Democrats will keep on losing, if not because of pure contempt for the close-mindedness of liberals, then for the fact that they do not seriously respond to our concerns. At all.

But hey, keep it up. Almost 60 million Americans were celebrating this past week because of that attitude, and after four more years, we would love to celebrate victory once again.

Zach Stern ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.