A New Landscape

photo by Alex Brandon AP

One thing is becoming increasingly clear after watching Barrack Obama's reelection on Tuesday night. The fog has lifted, and the scales of the political landscape are tipping towards the disenfranchised and previously disengaged voters. There was much ado about Barrack Obama being the first African American president in 2008 (as there should of been) but what's equally remarkable is that it seems to have lit a fire under the collective asses of a new voting demographic. Non-voters have discovered that voting can actually make a difference. Previously, low voter turnout by blacks, hispanics, and younger voters was dismal at best. The disconnect between the haves and the have-nots created a "ah fuck it" attitude amongst the have-nots, whose political aloofness was connected to the futility of the growing gap between the two. The rising star of this years election demographic seems to be the hispanic voter in particular, whose numbers are continually rising. Issues regarding poverty, immigration, taxes and so on, once in the hands of the power elite, are now the fodder of a growing political underclass, who have figured out that the accumulative voice of the disenfranchised is a political entity worth listening to. Are you listening Washington? Time will tell.