Face to face with small-town reality

[Tyo]

A couple of weeks ago I spent a long weekend in a small town in one of the Western states (kind of a long story).

I was with a friend who had grown up there. He told me that the current unemployment rate was pushing 13% and the underemployment rate was anyone’s guess. But I didn’t need to know that to see that this was not a rich place. The main street was cool and well kept with lots of buildings dating back to the 1880s and 1890s but probably 30% of the storefronts were vacant and a lot of them looked like they’d been that way for quite a while. The places that were functioning were restaurants, bars, gift shops, a jeweler's on it's way out and not one but two Christian book and kitsch shops. In other words there was really nothing to buy.

Off the main drag there were lots of streets with crumbling curbs and sidewalks and lots of houses showing evidence of “deferred maintenance”. For every new F250 or Chevy Impala there were a dozen vehicles limping along that were probably driven off the showroom floor sometime in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s and were showing the scars of all those winters. A lot of them had "W" or "Bush/Cheney" bumper stickers.

You get the idea. Now here’s what I don’t understand. The highlight of the morning on the local radio station was a couple of hours of Rush. He was bracketed for much the rest of the day by second or third-tier right-wing radio Rush wannabes.

There was also a random natural foods/health/infomercial show, a call-in show for pet owners that was hosted by a woman who obviously smoked too much, some sort of Christian thing, and country music. Okay, fine you can’t fault anyone for all that, even the Christian thing. But why are these folks spending half their day listening to right wingers who don’t give a shit about what they are facing in life?

I led kind of sheltered life the three days I was there and my purpose wasn’t to interview people on their politics anyway. However, I did get to talk to a few people and this is what I heard

Outspoken neighbor in her early ‘70s thought that Bush was taking the country to Hell in a hand basket. The war is absurd, gay marriage has to come sometime, the sooner the better. If there is a draft she is sending her grandsons straight to Canada. Interestingly, in many ways this woman should fit the Repub stereotype. Old lumber money and lots of it.

20-something guy at the gas station. Immigration is a problem, supports the President on Iraq, tried to join the Army a couple of years ago but has kind of a record and the recruiter couldn’t make it work. They’d probably take him now.

Guy in letter to the editor in local paper. City can’t afford to maintain the city park, ought to fix the streets first. Park can raise money with user fees (?) and leasing food concessions during the summer. (Who knows, he might have a point).

Local garage owner. Supports traditional values, but isn’t a radical like
“that 700 Club guy.” Need to stem the tide of illegals, we’ve got to fight the terrorists somewhere, might as well be there, can’t back out now, can support Democrats locally, but the ones in Washington are out of touch with regular people.

My friend’s mother. “We’ve usually voted Republican. We don’t believe in Socialism”, but she thinks something has to be done about healthcare and she believed Bush about Iraq when we went to war, but now thinks that we were mislead. Gay marriage is okay with her, but then she knows me. She is “comfortable” but not rich.

None of the Democrats appeal to her. They don’t strike her as leaders. “There are just so many problems in this country.” Got to agree with her there. I think a lot of people are feeling overwhelmed.

I sure didn’t talk to everyone in town, but it was interesting (and possibly a fluke) that among those I did interact with the one with the most money was the most anti-Rethug and the most pro gay rights. Why are the ones who are struggling so married to King George? Why don’t the ones who are really taking it in the shorts see what’s going on?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. I think the answer lies in your story

The Democrats have not been able to convince people that they represent an attractive and meaningful alternative.

[jtrockville]

3. Maybe dems aren't convicing.... but...

faced with the choice between someone who is OBVIOUSLY not a good leader, and someone who MIGHT be a good leader, why wouldn't you take the chance?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Perhaps they are taking the third option: not voting at all

:shrug:

That seems to be the common reaction among people who don't like either party.

[Tyo]

8. I would

But I think for a lot of people fear of the unknown prevents them from taking that leap. Also, a lot of them know things are wrong in this counry, but can't or won't make the obvious connections

[Tesha]

9. What Lydia said.

I'd go further and suggest that most people couldn't
correctly ennunciate a single value espoused by the
Democratic Party, mostly because we send such mixed
messages on every d***ed issue.

Tesha

[Tyo]

11. Not only are our messages mixed

We have, as others have pointed out, a media that twists and misstates them or ignores them altogether. But we do have to take our share of the blame for not having our act together. We soft peddle our positions rather than coming right out and saying what be believe in simple and straighforward terms.

[zalinda]

2. It's the media.................. n/t

[AJ9000]

6. Yes it is. Progressive ownership of media is the answer, followed

by media reform legislation.

[MissMarple]

4. Basically, they are misinformed and incurious..

It is sad, but true. And, they are like most people. We are social individuals, we go where our herd goes. Essentially, they are not bad people, they want the same things we do, for the most part. They want security and prosperity for themselves and their families. The progressive, liberal message which can better provide that, has been muted, drowned out by the powers that be.

Perhaps more cowbell would be in order. ;)

I know them, they are my close friends. They just can't get the big picture. But they would drive through a blizzard to help me. Truth to tell.

[OneBlueSky]

7. "a lot of people are feeling overwhelmed" . . . so true, so true . . .

among the reasons people are misinformed and seemingly incurious is the complexity of what's happening in the world, and not knowing who to believe anymore . . .

they've grown up relying on television news to keep them impartially informed, but those days are over and they don't know where to turn for the truth . . .

they truly do feel overwhelmed -- and who can blame them? . . .

[treestar]

10. Sounds like escapism, almost

They could get together and make something - the best damn leather in the world, or something - they don't use their imaginations, that is the problem with most Americans. They need the equivalent of Professor Harold Hill to come to town and get them fired up about something, it sounds like!

[question everything]

12. Sound bites and a world of black and white

The right wingers and Rush have been dominating the talk radio and the letters and the church sermons because they succeed in painting the world in black and white, no shades of gray, and thus can make their messages very simple and one sentenced.

You could see how Kerry and Gore lost them when they tried to articulate complex ideas.

Rove grasped it. "Baby killers," "perverts" "Hillary" etc.

This is why Clinton (and Carville) were so successful with their "it's the economy, stupid."

This is why "they died because Bush lied" may just catch, in the right audience.

Sad but fact. Most voters still think about what is close to them, what they can grasp. This is why terrorism - the 9/11 - can still grab attention, while the events in Iraq and in the Middle East are too far and complex. Unless, of course, there is a draft.

This is why impeachment and torture, and the supreme court and the budget deficit will meet with glazed eyes while, yes, the Foley sordid details will catch.

We need to talk in simple phrases about jobs, and health care, and schools, and retirement so that these voters can viscerally feel connection.

This is why we need to abandon the "choice" word and use a more loaded word like privacy. This is where their "pro-life" is more loaded than pro-choice.

One would think that we should be able to find a few good word smiths that would phrase where we stand in few, simple sentences loaded with "value" words.