Disdain for the Less Educated Is the Last Acceptable Prejudice

[brooklynite]

New York Times

Joe Biden has a secret weapon in his bid for the presidency: He is the first Democratic nominee in 36 years without a degree from an Ivy League university.

This is a potential strength. One of the sources of Donald Trump’s political appeal has been his ability to tap into resentment against meritocratic elites. By the time of Mr. Trump’s election, the Democratic Party had become a party of technocratic liberalism more congenial to the professional classes than to the blue-collar and middle-class voters who once constituted its base. In 2016, two-thirds of whites without a college degree voted for Mr. Trump, while Hillary Clinton won more than 70 percent of voters with advanced degrees.

Being untainted by the Ivy League credentials of his predecessors may enable Mr. Biden to connect more readily with the blue-collar workers the Democratic Party has struggled to attract in recent years. More important, this aspect of his candidacy should prompt us to reconsider the meritocratic political project that has come to define contemporary liberalism.

At the heart of this project are two ideas: First, in a global, technological age, higher education is the key to upward mobility, material success and social esteem. Second, if everyone has an equal chance to rise, those who land on top deserve the rewards their talents bring.

Was on a call with James Carville who concurs with this point.

[Blue_true]

1. One of the problems that we have had for a long time is using big words

and phrases when simpler ones would have allowed us to communicate with far more voters.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Agreed!

PINO does not obfuscate, prevaricate, or gaslight.
He lies!
Those three words are perfectly good words, but everybody has a visceral response to "lies".
Dems Politicos: Don't mince words. Don't out clever yourself.
Call him a liar.
Don't call them mistruths. They're lies.
He failed at business! Don't get into details about odd loans. He failed. He was bankrupt 7 times!
Gut punch, gut punch, gut punch.

[Blue_true]

10. You stated it well and to the point. nt

[brooklynite]

9. Al Franken used to tell a joke:

There were two cars in a parking lot, one owned by a Republican, the other owned by a Democrat.

The Republican car had a bumper sticker that read: "CUT TAXES", "STRONG DEFENSE", "FAMILY VALUES"

The Democratic car had a bumper sticker with 20 lines of 2 pt type that ended with: "CONTINUED ON THE NEXT BUMPER STICKER".

[Blue_true]

11. One thing that republicans do well is getting their limited message out.

Now actually governing, well, they aren’t even decent at that.

[Shrike47]

2. I dispute the title. Fat shaming is still a thing, and sneering at balding men.

[enid602]

3. ignernt

Big difference between uneducated and ignorant.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Meh

Cons have no idea Penn is part of the Ivy League.

[BamaRefugee]

5. Cons know what THE PEN is though and hopefully they all end up there

[Polly Hennessey]

7. So far we have been unable to speak

the common language. Perhaps the word “malarkey” will be the key to Joe’s success.

[elleng]

8. Oh right, because SO many voters pay attention to the colleges candidates attended

NOT!