Garling Gauge

Rove: eBay Turns You Republican

The market-oriented & the center-right

In Jeffery Goldberg’s headlining New Yorker article, Party Unfaithful - The Republican implosion, Karl Rove interprets technological and religious “societal trends” as positive indicators for the future of the Republican Party:

Rove thinks that more voters now are being influenced by technology and religion. “There are two or three societal trends that are driving us in an increasingly deep center-right posture,” he said. “One of them is the power of the computer chip. Do you know how many people’s principal source of income is eBay? Seven hundred thousand.”

I always knew eBay was up to no good…

He went on, “So the power of the computer has made it possible for people to gain greater control over their lives. It’s given people a greater chance to run their own business, become a sole proprietor or an entrepreneur. As a result, it has made us more market-oriented, and that equals making you more center-right in your politics.”

Keep that in mind all you eBay buyers. According to Rove’s projections, the dollars you spend online now will later fill the coffers of the Republican National Committee.

Somewhat conversely, Rove describes aging baby boomers as looking beyond their materialistic years for deeper meaning:

As for spirituality, Rove said, “As baby boomers age and as they’re succeeded by the post-baby-boom generation, within both of those generations there’s something going on spiritually—people saying it’s not all about materialism, it’s not all about the pursuit of material things.

If you look at the traditional mainstream denominations, they’re flat, but what’s growing inside those denominations, and what’s growing outside those denominations, is churches that are filling this spiritual need, that are replacing sterility with something vibrant, something that speaks tothe heart of the individual, that gives a sense of purpose.”

Rove believes what he has always believed: that the Christian right and, to a lesser extent, tax- and regulation-averse businessmen will continue to assure Republican victories.

Let’s look at this age demographic of eBay consumers, from eBay’s March, 2005 Seller Central Report:

18-24: 7%
25-34: 17%
55+ : 22%
35-44: 26%
45-54: 28%

Auctionknowhow notes that more than 1/3 of all US internet users visit eBay.

With 50% of eBay consumers (many of whom are also sellers) closing in on or in their retirement years, should Democrats fear a Republican wave of retiring internet-savy entrepreneurial church-goers?

I have no idea.

But remember eBay’s tagline: Whatever it is…you can get it on eBay.

The “it” just might be Republican votes.