How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
This is not exactly news to even mildly-cognizant observers of American politics, but I'll say it again: media really doesn't understand voters, particularly Republican voters. They are at their most comically awkward when writing "political analysis," which always seems to boil down to looking at voter blocs(aka one-sentence sociological caricatures) as chess pieces to be captured. The "values voters" are uncomfortable with affairs so they'll vote only for people who married their high school sweethearts; the "Southern evangelicals" are uncomfortable with X's religion so they'll vote for Y, etc. No one seems to know exactly what these blocs of "values voters" and"Southern evangelicals" look like: when I go to the South, I see lots of churches, lots of people who think and talk about their Christian faith, lots of opinions on what constitutes a godly life, and lots of men and women who don't know that you just committed a hate crime when you wished them "Merry Christmas." But they seem pretty different from each other in most other ways. The idea of large, moving automatons composed of masses of "values voters" who obey the commands of mysterious manipulators seems a little farfetched when each voter seems to have his own reason for going to the polls and his own reasons for rejecting or supporting a candidate.
If you want proof that the "Republican base"(whatever that might be) is about as far from group-think as humanly possible, look no further than this article. Contrary to the media meme that Romney is the smart technocrat being held back by those rubes from the South who don't like Mormons, the article points out that the most Republican part of the country is essentially up for grabs. Regional identity holds strong in places like South Carolina(if you're not loyal to your locale, who else is going to be?), so Southern Baptists tend to do well there. However, Rick Perry, for all his Southern mannerisms and regional accents, is losing heavily in opinion polls in the South to barely-qualifies-as-Georgian Newt Gingrich. On issues like illegal immigration where the media presupposes "nativism"(aka the crazy idea that new Americans should respect American law) on the part of Republican primary voters, Iowa evangelicals show a far greater grasp of nuance, balance, and perspective than the media who caricature them.
Which gets us to the other important misread. The chattering class assumes America, particularly Republicans, are essentially stupid and easy to manipulate. But Republican voters seem to be doing all the manipulation this campaign season, as befits the republic. They are straightening out and humbling candidates who think they can coast to the nomination. They are placing greater importance on articulate, sensible answers in debates than the geographic origin of the candidate, his skin color, religion, or ability to capture prime-time ad-time. They don't seem to be swayed by conservative messiahs: there is, as of now, no Republican Obama. Every time a Democratic friend accuses conservatives of narrow-mindedness, prejudice, cult-like behavior, or groupthink, I am going to try to point out that Republicans are not the ones with "the One."
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Agreed.
Mar '11
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Err, yes, we are individuals - resistance is not futile.
Dec '11
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Fedex didnt drop off your jerry falwell firmware update? You should call about that.
Dec '10
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Every time a Democratic friend accuses conservatives of narrow-mindedness, prejudice, cult-like behavior, or groupthink, I am going to try to point out that Republicans are not the ones with "the One."
Yeah, well, I'd go a little cautiously with this point. Having one acceptable conservative seems pretty desirable at the moment. Better One than the Dirty Dozen we're trailing through the mud from one forum to another.
OK - it's only nine or whatever. I can't keep track.
Jun '10
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
If you're in the part of the chattering class--lots of 'em--whose family spent a few generations in a large commercialized/industrialized city, you might tend to think that the rest of the country works the same way politically. It does not. In large cities, where there are critical masses of social classes, ethnic groups, very specific religious communities, large trade unions, and hundreds of patronage jobs, political power (and decision) tends to reside in groups. It's more efficient that way. But, in smaller communities it works differently. You have to gather your support a few at a time. People in America's small or medium-size towns don't have any tradition of voting in blocks. They don't like doing anything in "blocks." Least of all voting. Without the ubiquitous unions, "blue-collar" or "small-business-owner" doesn't narrow things down much politically. There are at least twenty kinds of blue-collar and fifty kinds of small-business-owner. You can't assume they agree politically. They don't. That's why it's good for candidates to spend time in places like Iowa.
Feb '11
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessman had passions and intellects, more or less small and cunning; if you were not only uncertain about your adversary's men, but a little uncertain also about your own . . . You would be especially likely to be beaten if you depneded arrogantly on your mathematical imagination, and regarded your passionate pieces with contempt. Yet this imaginary chess is easy compared with a game man has to play against his fellow-men with other fellow-men for instruments.
--George Eliot, in Felix Holt, the Radical (1866)
Jul '10
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Gingrich is barely Georgian? He lived there for over 25 years.
Sep '11
Re: How the Chattering Class Misreads Americans
Yes, but he's not FROM here. I don't have anything against him, but you can tell by his accent that he hasn't lived here all his life.