Dead Tree Alert: Got to Be Real

If I had to guess, James, I'd say you became élitist when you started spelling élitist with an accent on it. That's not what real Americans do, it's what them crazy furriners do. In fact...can we be sure you aren't an illegal alien??

Oh, please. Spare us the sanctimonious flag-waving Bob Seger crap. "Campaign coverage" tells you no such thing. "Campaign coverage" tells us that Obama is the Messiah come to deliver us from the evils of Repulicanism, that Palin is a moron who couldn't tie her own shoes, much less run a state, and that Joe Biden is thoughtful and articulate.

Hearing the press complain about being criticized is like hearing Nelson Muntz complain about being bullied. You can dish it out, but you can't take it. And if you think the press is overly *conservative*.. well, I guess 90% Democratic is still not enough, right?

James: it's just politics.

Specifically, that the classical divide of the socially liberal & big government Democrats vs. the socially conservative & small government Republicans ignores a sizable chunk of the voting population: socially moderate to conservative & moderate to big government independents. These independents would slot easily into a European-style Christian Democrat party, but because of the strictly A or B nature of the American system, are up for grabs.

Look at the swing voting groups of the last ~30 years: Catholics, Reagan Democrats, Soccer Moms, etc. (See also Huckabee's support, especially in the South.) All pretty much fall easily into the Christian Democrat label, and outside of economic meltdowns (such that booted Carter, Bush the Elder, and McCain (though he has more issues than that)), American presidential politics over the last 30 years has (in my opinion) solely revolved around which party does a better job of getting those defacto Christian Democrats.

Hence the "Real American" comments - the average "Real American" is a Christian Democrat, and my party is a better fit for them.

As a postscript, I'd add that the situation will not change anytime soon either: despite complaints, the Democrats have resolved to not change their opinions on abortion, etc., and absurdly enough, the Republicans thought that the lesson of 06/08 was that they need to go back to their small government ways!

Disclosure: Not surprisingly, being a Midwesterner, I consider myself to be a Christian Democrat.

I apologize for the wall of text, what do I need to use for paragraph breaks under this new system?

Also, James, if you could have a word with your website overlords, this comment box is too wide (such that the scroll controls no longer work) and has no preview function, if such features can be added.

I think you stopped being a "real American" well before you lost your sense of perspective on this election. you've adopted the Village groupthink approach to your job -- Obama Good! NotBama Bad! -- and real americans don't think like that.

In other words "real americans" voted for Hillary, and support McCain because they actually care about reality, and not just the media-created dreamscape of The One.

I, for one, really liked the column. I'm surprised how I've seen no one point out that "real America" is equivalent to "white America." I know the Obama campaign's trying to minimalize race (for political, if not perhaps ideological purposes), but if I was Hispanic, African American, etc. instead of a white, male, middleclass college student in East Tennessee, I'd take offense in a different way to this sort of thing.

Also, do you think "real America" would be as big a problem if candidates could just target voters (ie, get the votes in cities without worrying about rural etc.) instead of states (in other words, is it a problem of the electoral college problem)?

I'm with ya, James..

Substitute Bay City for Monroe and contractor for delivery driver and I'm with you all the way. I used to be a "real american" but since attending school in Ann Arbor, living in New York for a year, and then coming back to A2, I think I've given up the title. Even my parents, who would probably still fall under McCain's definition, are tired of all the "real american" nonsense

I've always been extremely irritated with the idea of "real" Americans, as if such a thing exists. What I'm even more irritated about is this whole Michelle Bachman & company crap about people who are "pro-American" and "anti-American". There is a huge amount of diversity within this country, and for Them to try and co-opt "pro-American" or "real American" to mean "supporting the right-wing" is highly insulting. Its just another way of saying that educated, informed, left-leaning folks are scary and not to be trusted, and, as an educated, informed, left-leaning person, I'm rather sick of hearing it. I put a lot of energy over the years into educating myself on national and global politics, law, government, and economics, so that I would have a solid understanding of How Things Work. Then I discover that that process has made me unqualified to have an opinion because I'm now an elitist who is no longer a "real american" and, because I am critical of How Things Are, also "anti-american". Funny how things work. . .

angry black woman had an interesting post on this topic:
http://theangryblackwoman.com/2008/10/21/of-patriotism-joe-six-pack-and-real-americans/

@sharasays: Exactly!

Funny thing, though. I grew up in a quintessentially "Real America" town in northwest Ohio surrounded by cornfields and dairy farms -- my high school even had Tractor Day, where the FFA kids could drive their tractors to school. (Seriously. We also had a day off each September for the county fair.) But I know people who have spent their whole lives there - and are lifetime Republicans - who are so frustrated with the status quo they're voting for Obama.

Of course, I was born in Connecticut, so spending those first four formative years of my life on the East Coast probably negate any claim I have to being a real American...