One reason Democrats lose elections is that they think everyone who doesn’t think as they do is an idiot that doesn’t know what’s good for them, breaking voters down into rich, poor, formally educated, informally educated and similar demographics and then equating them with racist, sexist, stupid, and opportunistic. Democrats: Party of the rich people!:
I’d go with a liberal such as Obama over a Clinton conservative, regardless of the impact on electability as the election would be lost from the start if our only choices were Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Fortunately we do not have to face such a dilemma as Obama is likely to bring in far more educated, affluent voters than Clinton is likely to bring in socially conservative, uneducated, and working class voters.
Good to know we’re looking to replace democracy with a so-called meritocracy, except as I recall, our current president is a Harvard MBA. Great idea!
Maybe the uneducated, low-information hillbillies are smart enough to know when their candidates don’t speak to them or generally give a damn either way. But what do I know? I’m just a dumb hick.
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Please, don’t lump me in with that guy. I’m a liberal Democrat, and I voted for Obama, but I recognize that there are people who voted against him who have perfectly legitimate reasons for doing so. Like, they preferred Hillary Clinton for President.
Having said that, there is something a bit bizarre about people voting for Clinton (or, in the general, McCain) because they think Obama is an elite. Um, they’re all sort of elites, by definition, and Obama is probably the least elite of any of them, since he didn’t became wealthy and powerful until the last couple of years.
After this election I think we need to retire the word elite, because I’m not sure it means anything any more other than “a person I don’t like.”
Well, I backed Edwards until January, then switched to Clinton when JE dropped out. Clinton’s longer track record on environmental and women’s issues, while not perfect, gave her the edge in my book.
And I live on the West Coast, we make too much to qualify for a tax refund, I drive a Volvo, listen to NPR, shop at Whole Foods, eat soy cheese and and read the New York Review of Books. I think my elitist clueless cred is pretty spankin’ fine, thanks, and I’m just not sold on ol’ Barack just yet. I know plenty of folks in my demographic who backed Clinton over Obama in our primary, and class and race had nothing to do with it. Gender did, I’ll admit. If it was Bill Clinton vs. Barack Obama, I’d pull the lever for the latter. I haven’t been happy with our 42nd president, and I think Hillary has been more hurt than helped by her husband.
I’ll vote for him in the fall if he’s the nominee, but of the candidates still in the race, he’s my second choice. And I am really tired of hearing the appalling race/class analysis of this race, which doesn’t jive at all with my admittedly limited experience.
And don’t get me started on the NARAL idiocy. WTF? Are they trying to dry up their donor base intentionally?
Say what you will, but I nearly choked on my cocktail last night while watching footage of voters from West Virginia’s primary stating why they didn’t vote for Obama. I won’t repeat any of it here, but it was embarrassing to see and hear.
I certainly fall outside of the supposed typical class voting for Obama (I make far less than $20K/yr) – though I am (mostly) college edumacated – and while there are certainly many people who don’t fit the trend, there is little point in denying that the trends exist.
What would be more helpful is to try and understand why the candidates appeal to these different demographics, and how can we find a common ground?