The culture war: It's back!

[alarimer]

I think this article sums it all up. Why people will not vote for people who seem "different". They may not actually be that different (see Gore and Kerry) but they are painted as someone very different from Joe Six-pack. Any Democratic nominee would face this problem, not just Obama with his "funny" name.

I am truly frightened right now.


Here's an excerpt:

...It's terrifying that so many Americans are so driven by resentment that they will vote against more qualified candidates simply because they seem "different" from them. For what this means is that anyone with expertise, unusual intelligence, mastery, special knowledge, is likely to be rejected by voters who are resentful of "elites." This constitutes a rejection of the very idea that it matters if someone is better at something than someone else.

The peculiar thing is that this only applies to politics: Voters who would not dream of taking their car to an incompetent mechanic or their body to an unlicensed physician have no problem electing totally unqualified candidates to perform the most difficult and important job in the world, simply because they identify with them.

more

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/palin_interview/index.html

I wish I knew the answer.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Reminds me of that commerical on TV for some 'head-hunter' group. The tennis player is

knocked to the ground as hundreds of people climb down from the stands to 'play tennis', without rackets or skill. It makes fun of other employment sites where anybody, without skills or experience, can apply for a well-paying job. That's kind of how the GOP selects its candidates!

[paparush]

2. Lets' see - Lefties carry signs, sing songs, march peacefully, and sign petitions.

Righties kill. ( JFK, MLK, Bobby, Welstone?, et al, abortion clinic doctors)
Righties bomb. ( Tim McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, abortion clinics)
Righties shoot rubber bullets, launch tear gas grenades, and hose down crowds with pepper spray.
Righties lie through their fucking teeth.

Yes..the culture wars are back.

And I'm betting the lefties don't stay peaceful too much longer.

[alarimer]

7. Actually I think the culture wars have never gone away.

We just hoped that other issues would take precedence with this election. If Obama can make it about issues, he will win. But there are too many distractions.

[foxfeet]

9. For years now, the Republicans

have cultivated a festering anti-intellectualism that has served to further the urban/rural divide. A whole new stereotype has arisen of urbanites as Starbucks-swilling fashionistas just itching to talk down to their rural brethren. I don't begrudge anybody their right to field-dress a moose, but neither do I think that skill is an automatic qualification for office.

[laststeamtrain]

3. K & R-- Sad but true.

"As Katharine Mieszkowski reported for Salon, Palin's rapturous supporters embrace her because "she represents me." It's the politics of sheer narcissism."

It's advertising that's done it. I don't how we back out of this blind alley. People live in 'Unreality' 24/7.

[Uncle Joe]

4. I believe this is a direct result from the perfection of

universal one way communication, mass psychology and marketing, while all can be beneficial, they can be abused to the point of making Orwell blush.

"War is peace" and the leaders; who promoted empowering the people's voice via the Internet enhancing their First Amendment rights and by extension the people's other rights like never before are "elite".

I believe Obama stands a better chance because of the growing power and influence from the Internet to offset the one way megaphones and brainwashing capabilities of the corporate media, although it remains an uphill fight.

[alarimer]

5. Yes. Rush and Hannity and all those have no equivalent on the left.

And they have huge audiences. Air America radio cannot match those numbers. Democrats in general tend to take a more nuanced view of things because the world is not really black and white.

Hopefully the internet will help. I think it has already but I hope it translates into votes.

[Uncle Joe]

6. I believe the Internet is the ultimate gray, as virtually all human endeavor is reflected in it

and thus with each passing day this creation is becoming the most accurate portrait of the people as a whole.

[Demeter]

8. If There Is a Culture War, Sarah Palin Is It Personified

She is so foreign to American Women that she might as well speak a different language.

Her attitudes, experiences and ideas clash instead of resonating.

And most unforgivable, she makes us cringe with embarrassment.

She hasn't any qualifications for any elected office, paid or volunteer.