A Slandering Soon to Commence
Among the few remaining primaries left are those in Kentucky and West Virginia, where Hillary Clinton is hugely favored to win. And we all know why she will win, don't we....
Because we in Kentucky and our neighbors in West Virginia are all irredeemable racists. The only reason we will vote for Clinton is because we don't want a darkie to be President. The margin of victory for Clinton will only show how racist our states really are.
You know, us God, gun, and xenophobia clingers out in the boonies.
Now, will race play a factor? Of course. Are there folks out there who will not vote for Sen. Obama because of his skin color? Of course. What percentage we don't know.
But national pundits had best be careful they don't paint with too wide a brush. Telling a working class white their Clinton vote has the aroma of bigotry to it, is in itself bigotry. These are, ironically, the same folks you'll be counting on to vote for Obama come November, so don't insult them.
But then again, as someone who is going to vote Republican this fall, why am I giving you this advice anyway. Make fun of us, call us backward, illiterate hillbillies. Yeah, that's the ticket.
PS: Sarah Moore has a pretty good post similar in vein to mine. Also, note how Sean in the comments is already guilty of what I'm warning about.
Because we in Kentucky and our neighbors in West Virginia are all irredeemable racists. The only reason we will vote for Clinton is because we don't want a darkie to be President. The margin of victory for Clinton will only show how racist our states really are.
You know, us God, gun, and xenophobia clingers out in the boonies.
Now, will race play a factor? Of course. Are there folks out there who will not vote for Sen. Obama because of his skin color? Of course. What percentage we don't know.
But national pundits had best be careful they don't paint with too wide a brush. Telling a working class white their Clinton vote has the aroma of bigotry to it, is in itself bigotry. These are, ironically, the same folks you'll be counting on to vote for Obama come November, so don't insult them.
But then again, as someone who is going to vote Republican this fall, why am I giving you this advice anyway. Make fun of us, call us backward, illiterate hillbillies. Yeah, that's the ticket.
PS: Sarah Moore has a pretty good post similar in vein to mine. Also, note how Sean in the comments is already guilty of what I'm warning about.
posted by Lee | 8:19 PM
5 Comments:
So Lee, why do you think Hillary maintains 60-80 percent leads in Rural Appalachia?
"So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
Appalachia loves God. They love guns. They don't like being insulted by their potential leaders. And they don't like being called racists by people like you.
But yeah Sean, keep calling them racists, and then ask for their vote come November.
Lee,
That might make sense if it weren't for the fact that Hillary's poll numbers haven't changed from March, well before those comments or the Jeremiah Wright business. This was always Hillary country...next theory.
Sean, I understand why you are laying the groundwork to delegitimize the upcoming results in these states, just like many Obama supporters are. This is Hillary Country, alas. Kentucky also voted for her husband in '92 and '94, and I believe that WV voted for her husband those same years, yet KY went GOP for both 2000 and '04, and WV went GOP in '04 as well.
Last time I checked, Gore and Kerry were white.
These states, for whatever reason, like the Clintons, whether against white guys or black, and Obama does give off an arugulan stench of elitism that doesn't play well here, and everything since Super Tuesday hasn't helped him close any gap.
These folks want to vote for the Blue Dog Democrat. Want to believe that the concept can still exist, and Hillary has been playing that role fairly well. It sure isn't Obama's niche.
And does race have some sort of play in all this. Of course. All I've been saying is that pundits and Obama supporters, like yourself, need to be careful about painting too broad a generalization.
Don't insult the people who you want to vote for you come November. WV could be a battleground state. Keep this up and it won't.
First, I don't kid myself into thinking I have an impact on these elections...I don't.
Second, its not just West Virginia and Kentucky, its every county in Appalachia. Before Hillary became a whiskey pounding, gun-toting, Southern populist (back when she was a center-left policy wonk), she was winning rural Appalachia by 60-80% (including Virginia where Obama won by 65%).
I think Bill Clinton has a lot (perhaps most) to do with this...whats annoying though is when people try to reduce it down to a few minor policy differences...it simply doesn't make sense.
There is a racial and cultural element. If Barack Obama was a black guy named Joe Washington he'd probably be getting better numbers in these counties. But the fact that he has an African name, with an Arabic middle name, gives fuel to rampant rumors which have been thoroughly debunked numerous times; but because politicians have ginned up resentment against the "elites" who aren't to be trusted...people tend to view their neighbors as more authoritative sources of information.
This is what I was trying to get at when I was talking about isolated communities and the echo chamber effect. That people still believe Barack Obama is a Muslim or that he won't say the pledge of allegiance; is a symptom of this.
There are similar situations in the urban and rural black communities, where word of mouth is a more trusted/relied upon source of news.
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