Presidential race devolves into brawl between Rednecks and Elites
With the nomination of one Sarah Palin, presidential politics is no longer a battle of economic policies and national security; it’s a Saturday night brawl between the Rednecks and the Elites.
On the left, we have the smugly smiling, smarter-than-thou, Ivy Leaguers. On the right, we have the gun-clinging, God-toting, cowboys.
Make that cowgirls.
The two parties are both more and less than that reduction, of course, but this is approximately how each side now views the other.
Barack Obama is an elitist who doesn’t understand small-town, traditional America no matter how many times he cites his Kansas roots. And John McCain is, well, who knows?
McCain isn’t a redneck, but his running mate meets most of the criteria from the elitist’s perspective. She hunts, fishes, loves driving four-wheelers, making babies and beating up the boys.
She gets small-town America because she is small-town America. The question is, does she get the Great Big World? And can she lead it, if necessary?
McCain seems to think so. Or does he? Whatever the case, his political judgment in selecting the Alaska governor was keen. With that singular flourish, he signaled the Republican base that he isn’t a RINO (Republican In Name Only) after all. And, he co-opted the Democrats’ claim to represent women’s interests by picking a woman who makes feminists look like sissy-girls.
Both a frontier woman and beauty queen, the square-jawed Palin not only neutralized the sisterhood, but she animated the brotherhood. Men are suddenly riveted as never before by the frontal lobes of the vice presidential candidates.
Like all caricatures, the elitist and the redneck are based on partial truths, but there’s enough substance to justify some of the contempt from both sides. Obama does have that little chin-lifted, smile-down-his-nose, teacher-pet look that says, “I know better than you.” Palin does exude the kind of biblical certitude last observed in a president by the name of George W. Bush.
It was Obama who said that small-town Americans, embittered by a lack of jobs and government accountability, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
A big game hunter like Palin couldn’t ask for better ammo. She knows that her neighbors don’t cling to guns or religion because there’s nothing left on which to hang their hopes. They cling to guns to hunt and to protect their families; and they cling to religion because they believe in a power higher than themselves.
It was also Obama who, in trying to commiserate with Iowa farmers about low crop prices, said: “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?”
I confess to arugula fatigue at this point. Arugula may be a funny name for lettuce. (Hey, Solzhenitsyn was a funny name for a writer!) But arugula has been on American plates for a couple of decades now. It isn’t the symbol of nouvelle cuisine that it once was.
That said, Obama’s lament before a crowd of soy and corn growers was so out of tune, he made Hillary Clinton sound like Sarah Brightman.
To sway voters, it isn’t necessary to agree on every issue, but it is helpful to share a worldview. From that perspective, Palin is a perfect storm of God, Mom and apple pie: a pro-life, pro-gun, career woman, happily married to a snowmobiling—not a windsurfing—guy.
Jeff Foxworthy is undoubtedly revising his blockbuster book: “You Might Be a Redneck if ...” to include a chapter on Palin. Note that being a redneck is not considered a negative in the Foxworthy franchise, nor is it in most places where elites fear to tread.
On the other hand, another confession: Palin is so comfortable in that whompum-stompum, good ol’ girl way that one really wouldn’t mind catching her doodling in her journal, “Madame Bovary, c’est moi.”
The truth is that both elites and rednecks could use a little more of each other. If some rednecks are a little too proud of selective ignorance, elites are too confident that rednecks know nothing useful. A little less smugness on the left and little less righteousness on the right would be refreshing about now.
Breath-holding and farm-betting are not recommended.
Kathleen Parker's e-mail address is kparker@kparker.com.
Sep 13, 2008 at 2:28 p.m.
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WHYTHINK ... that is a compliment. A question everyone should ask them selves. whythink, why not think.
Sep 12, 2008 at 11:19 a.m.
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Just listening to the substitute host, Lee Rayburn, on the Thom Hartmann show:
"Misleading" absentee ballot applications are being mailed out by the McCain campaign to registered Democratic voters in purple states. The return addresses are inaccurate, as well as other information. "Misleading, lying" mailers are going out in Florida and other purple states. It's a caging tactic.
Calls are coming in verifying that this is happening in small towns, as well as larger ones.
The host is trying to determine the scale of this subversion of our democracy.
Here we go again.
UPDATE: It's happening in Pennsylvania, too. The ballots have included multiple ballots, sender address is a new address while return address is from old city clerk's office... The I'm trying to type this as he says it, and it may not be clear, since I miss some. I apologize for that.
Fraud. Election fraud. Hopefully the local authorities can help, or the local Obama offices. Calling the media could help, too.
A caller: Robocalls asking if you're interested in an absentee ballot. Or, notifying the voter that the ballot will be mailed back postage paid to the National Republican Committee.
Another caller from Detroit. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida: That's where the absentee ballots are being sent to Obama voters. Add Missouri to that, per one of our commenters.
You can be sure McCain isn't doing this because he wants every vote counted.
UPDATE: A North Carolina caller got THREE of them. In the phone book there's a street address, but on the form, it's a P.O. Box, per the caller.
California caller from registrar's office: McCain should take the application for absentee and submit within 3 days. But the applications will most likely be held for the 3 days and "die". They'll most likely submit the Republican ones, and throw away the Democratic ones.
The return address for the request card goes to the wrong city clerk office address, per Rayburn.
Michigan caller: Wrong home address, and then, wrong city clerk address on the one he got. He donated to Obama, but not a Democrat, so he wonders if that's how they found him.
Hey media? There's a real story here.
http://current.com/items/89293206_mislea...
Sep 11, 2008 at 3:04 p.m.
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Enough of this kind of stupid divisory article. The people of this nation have REAL issues that they would like dealt with unlike writers like Ms. Parker who would prefer to paint things with her broad stroke. Let's ALL focus on what it will take to restore integrity in our federal offices and elect leaders who will move our country in a better direction.
Now if we could just find some of those people and get them to run...:-)
Sep 11, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
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enough
is that a compliment or put-down?
Sep 11, 2008 at 2:35 p.m.
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Whythink ....that name fits you perfectly
Sep 11, 2008 at 2:34 p.m.
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proartist....Terrific response. I too get disheartened by the Journalist who just want to feed the public with ridculous. People have not experienced enough pain yet. If McCain and Palin get elected perhaps 2012. Will be the time Americans take a look at their foreign owned Country. . I do believe that Palin is McCains Agnew. I scratch my head at this nonsense.
Sep 11, 2008 at 1:35 p.m.
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Hatch
You are dead on. Obama an elitist. I noticed no mention of the "redneck" losing count of his 7 mansions.
She is obviously a McCain supporter and tries to come off an independent. She failed this time.
Obama elitist - LMFAOADL!
Sep 10, 2008 at 11:15 a.m.
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good post artist.
Sep 10, 2008 at 10:55 a.m.
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Hey, at least the author didn't call anyone a "pig wearing lipstick"!
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:36 a.m.
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A raging class war? Rising unemployment? Economy in the gutter? Soaring energy costs? Unaffordable healthcare even IF you can find an insurer? Employers moving their companies and profits to other countries? "No Child Left Behind" doing nothing but teaching test-taking and lowering academic achievement in underfunded schools? Higher education costs soaring while student aid is disappearing? A recession brought on by an unpopular war with the citizenry not wanting to be taxed to finance it? Corporations getting welfare while the people see their homes foreclosed? Social service funding slashed while faith-based funding is an unlimited trough? Trashing of the Constitution to keep us "safe"? "Free" speech zones? Military honor dismissed as torture is approved? Natural disasters of years ago with major cities still in a state of devastation? A national infrastructure crumbling? Warrantless searches and wiretapping? Legitimate concerns about voting processes and machines that go unaddressed from election to election? These are all major crises because of the Bush Administration and SUPPORTED by McCain, who has mirrored every desire of the president. Why talk about these issues so the populace could get real answers from the candidates? Why talk about these issues when you could be play on the public sympathies and generate divisiveness by fanning the flames with name calling?
Sep 10, 2008 at 7:57 a.m.
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You might be a redneck if.....you consider Obama an elitist because he is well mannered and inteligent. It is people like Kathleen Parker who just can't resist stirring the pot using word's like redneck and elitist........off the subject but I just saw a report that states "11 million more registered democrats than republicans so far before this upcoming election." The poll's are obsolete because they only poll people with land lines and then only those who answer.
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