Posted on 04/20/2008 4:56:03 AM PDT by Timeout
To urge the white working class to vote on the basis of economic policy is itself considered an act of elitism....
But nobody's challenging the validity of caring more about your religion, or even your right to hunt, than your income. The objection is whether it makes sense to vote on that basis. There are...stark differences between the two parties on economic matters. Republicans do want to make working-class voters pay a higher proportion of the tax burden, restrain popular social programs, erode the value of the minimum wage, and so on.
Democrats, on the other hand, have no plans to keep anybody from attending church or hunting. ...
And, while it may be elitist to say so, voting for a politician merely because he can mimic your lifestyle is not a very good idea. George Will and the Journal editors would never dream of voting on the basis of which candidate related best to their culture. They support the candidates who share their policy goals, not those who share their passion for watching baseball, or flogging the servants, or whatever other pastimes they may enjoy.
Now, it's true that many working-class whites also vote on social issues that do have some political relevance, like abortion or gay marriage. It's certainly not irrational on its face to vote your values over your wallet. (Democratic billionaires do it, too.) On the other hand, conservatives routinely express their fury that a majority of Jews stubbornly flout their own "self-interest"--defined as low tax rates and a maximally hawkish Middle East policy--to vote Democratic. The process of trying to persuade others to reconsider the nature of their self-interest is not some Marxist exercise or an accusation of false consciousness. It's what we call "democracy."
Sorry, did that sound condescending?
(Excerpt) Read more at tnr.com ...
Yes, the whole article is elitist precisely because you're so "out of touch". Every time a liberal tries to explain "what's wrong with Kansas", he reveals the exact problem with today's Dems. They talk as though there hasn't been a constant assault on traditional values for the last 4 decades. When I was growing up it would never have occurred to us that we we would one day have to defend marriage, Western Civ, or the U.S. military. THAT is why we place traditional values above economic concerns.
Note how Mr. Chait portrays the very conservatives he purports to woo:
Republicans do want to make working-class voters pay a higher proportion of the tax burden, restrain popular social programs, erode the value of the minimum wage, and so on.
and
They [prominent conservatives] support the candidates who share their policy goals, not those who share their passion for watching baseball, or flogging the servants, or whatever other pastimes they may enjoy.
and
...conservatives routinely express their fury that a majority of Jews stubbornly flout their own "self-interest"--defined as low tax rates and a maximally hawkish Middle East policy--to vote Democratic.
Yep, that's me. Go to church, shoot some animals, watch some baseball, beat the servants, blame the jooooos. Mr. Chait doesn't realize it, but he did a slam bang job of displaying liberals' elitist concept of who conservatives are.
“Democrats, on the other hand, have no plans to keep anybody from attending church or hunting”
Nope, as long as you hunt with spitballs.
But they do want to control what kind of lightbulbs you put in, what kind of food you can buy in restaurants, what kind of schools you can go to, what you can say about your religion, etc.
Essentially, what this article says is that ‘bitter’ Americans should take up the democrats offer to pay them to give up their guns and their God.
Another clueless spin-mister for the loony left. Most likely believes anyone living outside of the city is a clueless hick.
No. But liberal preachers make attending church a waste of time and, hey, it ain't about hunting, a-hole.
It’s just so amusing watching the Dems trying to psychoanalyze the “natives”. I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone at Obama’s little fete had asked if he had to get shots before venturing into those small towns.
Their pitiful lack of understanding reminds me of the mother who whines: “I give my child everything, leave him free to explore his inner self, never tell him ‘no’...yet he still acts like a spoiled brat. What’s wrong with him?!”.
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