Great article on the state of the Republican base:
Democracy Corps: Republican Base Voters Living In Another World
It makes claims that the anti-Obama people in their focus groups aren’t racists, but ideologically different:
One thing that the firm makes clear, though, is that this is not about racism, but about ideology: “Instead of focusing on these intense ideological divisions, the press and elites continue to look for a racial element that drives these voters’ beliefs – but they need to get over it. Conducted on the heels of Joe Wilson’s incendiary comments at the president’s joint session address, we gave these groups of older, white Republican base voters in Georgia full opportunity to bring race into their discussion – but it did not ever become a central element, and indeed, was almost beside the point.”
I guess. Most racists in a focus group aren’t going to cop to it. I still think that race is just under the surface, particularly from southern state politicians.
However, the following definitely underscores recent posts I’ve made on blurbomat:
Conservatives see themselves as an oppressed minority, holding on to knowledge that isn’t represented in the wider media and culture: “Conservative Republicans passionately believe that they represent a group of people who have been targeted by a popular culture and set of liberal elites – embodied in the liberal mainstream media – that mock their values and are actively working to advance the downfall of the things that matter most to them in their lives – their faith, their families, their country, and their freedom.”
The funny part of those feelings isn’t that “elites” want to destroy anything. If anything, it appears that progressives are trying to rebuild; rebuild the U.S. foreign relations, the economy, healthcare, faith in the government to do good and the notion that disagreements are expected and worth talking about in graduated, infinite terms as opposed to binary terms. The funny part of the paranoid feelings from fringe conservatives is how pervasively wrong headed they are.