I wanted to share with you all a bit of encouraging news that I found today. It is a twenty year trend in political values and core attitudes that the people over at the Pew Research Center put together. Full findings here.

The biggest news here is that the number of people, in the last 5 especially, that identify themselves as either Republican or Republican leaning is quickly eroding away. Of course there are many, easily identifiable reasons for this trend; a four plus year failing war, never ending Republican scandal and corruption, a fiscal strategy that is anything but conservative, a President who refuses to listen to the will of the American people, and so on. This shrinking number of identifiable Republicans is also in direct correlation to the shrinking number of people who think that Dubya is doing a good job as President. It is becoming more and more evident as the days, weeks and months of this failed Presidency drag on that former campaign aide, Matthew Dowd, was right in saying this weekend that Bush is "..secluded, and bubbled in." I think the bubble is now down to Bush, Rove, Cheney, Fox News and 30% of Americans who just won't let the dream die.

There are other encouraging trends to be found in this research as well. Namely on people becoming less sure that the way towards peace is through military strength and on peoples' views towards the governments role in helping out the poor vs. the governments role in shaping the religious views of it's citizenry. Of course, as these voices become fewer, they also tend to become louder. The ones who are left behind are feeling abandoned, vulnerable, and frustrated. They seem to think if they only shout louder, only insult the other side more, and only stick behind a sinking President more resolutely, then it should follow that their abandoners will eventually come back. I am afraid, for their sake, that is not going to be the case this time.

Thanks for reading...