Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatimah Ali warns that, “If McCain wins, look for a full-fledged race and class war, fueled by a deflated and depressed country, soaring crime, homelessness–and hopelessness!” I’m not sure about the race and class war stuff, but I’m sure we will see a huge increase in homelessness–or at least mentions of homelessness in the media. Back in 2001, Andrew Ferguson observed that the return of Republicans to the White House would mean:
the reemergence of all kinds of things we haven’t seen since — well, since the old President Bush was in the White House. Avarice and selfishness are just the beginning. Say hello to homelessness, for instance: We are about to see a horrifying deterioration in the plight of our nation’s street people. We haven’t heard much — anything, really — about the homeless since, oh, roughly January 20, 1993. As it happens, the number of people living on steam grates has remained pretty much constant from the middle 1980s, when they filled the airwaves and graced the cover of countless magazines, to the present day, when they are all but forgotten. They are about to be remembered.
Naturally, on February 16, 2001, just a few weeks after Bush’s inauguration, the Washington Post ran a front-page story slugged “Indicators Show D.C. Homelessness Getting Worse.” Fatimah Ali is just running ahead of schedule.
