Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Sarah Palin And The Get 'Er Done Vote
I had never even heard of Sarah Palin until Vox Day picked her as the VP nominee two full days before it was announced by the McCain camp. (How the heck did you see that one coming, Vox?)
Now, a week or so later, I am a bit worried.
You see, like Mrs. Palin's future son-in-law Levi, I'm also a fuckin' redneck. I like to to camp, hunt, ride dirt bikes, shoot guns, and hang out with the boys. Like Todd and Sarah, I too have five kids. I worked in blue-collar, 12 hours a day, up-to-your-elbows-in-grease jobs most of my adult life. I like country music. I wear a cowboy hat. I ride horses. I drink Coors Light. I listen to the Blue Collar Comedy guys, and think Larry The Cable Guy is an unsung comedy genius.
Like I said - a redneck.
The one thing I don't share with my farmer-tanned brethren is god belief. I don't have any, but most of them do. This places me into a really weird position politically. For most of my life I voted Republican. Heck, I was a conservative Republican. But the overt and covert religiosity, and the growing dominionist, theocratic themes in the GOP turned me away. I switched over to the Libertarian Party - but it's not a great fit for me either. I don't think I'll ever be a registered Democrat. I just don't identify with enough of their platform. That's not to say that I won't vote for a Democrat though, or for a Republican for that matter, if I decide that they happen to be the best person for the job.
In any case, my point is that Sarah Palin could have stood up at the Republican National Convention and read the phone book (well, People Magazine, anyway,) and the redneck "Get 'er Done!" folks would have still voted for her - not McCain alone - in droves.
I am *already* hearing it from my redneck friends and family members. "She's just like us!" They exclaim. "That nice Levi boy is going to marry Bristol, and she's not going to kill her baby! And her mom supports her!" And what about "Iron Dog" Todd Palin, commercial fisherman, champion snowmobile racer, and oil field worker? "The First Dude is a real man - did you hear how he finished a snowmobile race with a broken arm? Very cool. I think it'd be awesome to hang out with him and have a beer." Not to mention the absolutely golden video of little Piper Palin licking her hand and smoothing down Baby Trig's hair was about the cutest thing they say they've ever seen.
Do not underestimate the redneck vote. They will rise up in a flurry of mullets and "Who Farted" hats and absolutely crush Obama and Biden if those two don't get their poop in a group and do something quickly. (Here's a tip, Barack my friend; I like you, but ease up on the anti-gun stuff, and please try to stop coming across like an Ivy League asshole when you talk to us regular joes. It's going to lose you this election if you're not careful.)
I don't know if McCain made this choice, or if it was orchestrated by Rove, but whoever did it thought it through. It is either an act of sheer genius that will sweep McCain into the Oval Office, or Palin will self-destruct even past the point where getting the redneck vote can save her. The Republicans are betting that she holds it together, obviously, and she well might.
If she does hold it together, then we might all be in a lot of trouble. Because make no mistake about it, she is a far, FAR right religious theocrat who has used her political power in the past to endorse her own wacky theology. She seems to believe that she was chosen by her God to do well in the political arena, spurred by her prophetic pastor's encouragement from his pulpit - and the VP nod is only going to fuel their conviction that she is being supported supernaturally by Binky The Magic Space Clown (or whoever she thinks made the universe with magic.)
In short, we've got to win this one folks. If we don't, we're screwed. McCain is just too damned frail to have someone like Palin sitting in the on-deck spot.
Your thoughts? What am I missing here? Is it as bad as I think it is?
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Comments on Your "Sarah Palin And The Get 'Er Done Vote" Post
Hi Brent, long time reader of Vox Day here and recently started reading your blog due to his recommendation. I am not a redneck but I do wish I had enough hair to wear a mullet. (I don't want to wear a mullet, I just wish I still had the hair!)
However I do like logic and reason and Vox says you have been blessed with a decent sized serving of both. I agree. I like your analysis of the "Git 'Er Done" vote, and I agree with you that emotional voting by anyone is not a good thing. My personal opinion is that emotional voting pretty much always leads to bad choices. But until there is some means of assessing the existence of reason and common sense in a person before allowing them to vote, I guess our current system is the best we have.
Just as I worry about liberals voting for Obama because it will vindicate their efforts to obtain civil rights (older black voters), assuage their white guilt (white liberal voters), or "Stick it to the man" (younger black voters), I also worry about conservatives voting for McCain because, "WOW he's got Palin and ain't she just a down home person!" because I think these are all poor reasons for voting. I personally disagree with as much of McCain's plans (making illegal immigrants legal as a reward for breaking the law, free speech annulment with the McCain Feingold Act, etc.,) as I do with Obama's plans to solve all our problems with more government and more taxes.
At least you don't have to worry about me being swayed by the addition of Palin to the ticket (well maybe just a little, what guy wouldn't dream of a former beauty queen who still has a good bit of that beauty!) but I will be writing in Ron Paul as I have planned to do during the entire election process.
Best regards from North Carolina, and although I already confessed I am not a redneck and could never be invited into the fellowship (can you believe it, I don't watch NASCAR down here??? In North Carolina???) I also think Larry the Cable Guy is outta this world!
Craig
It is as bad as you think it is
Bristol's pregnancy worked so brilliantly for McCain that one would almost think it was planned. All of Palin's real faults have been hidden behind a smokescreen of gossip and faux outrage. Now Palin can run against the media, and any criticism of her record will be met by dismay about how the liberal media are trying to destroy this good woman for not being a liberal.
I believe the Bradley effect is real-there are whites who will tell pollsters they support Obama and then vote for McCain. So I expect all the close states to end up in McCain's column. If Obama doesn't have 270 electoral votes in states in which he leads by more than the margin of error, I'm afraid he will lose.
Me no like
See, I have the same problem with both parties playing to the faith sufferer vote. Even though I don't really consider myself a Democrat I vote Dem for two main reasons (well, three if you count that Repub where I live means a vote to destroy wetlands and replace them with townhouses) - I don't the constitution should be altered to deny freedoms and Dems seem slightly less likely to be influenced by as you put it, Binky the Magic Space Clown.
I kept thinking - they want her to balance the McCain money.
I really did wonder if that was the main reason they picked her: to counter the perception the week before that the McCains have so much money, and so many houses, that John McCain either can't remember how many houses he has or doesn't want to admit it publicly. Especially in this real estate market, with people losing their homes to foreclosures right and left, do people really want to think that they are going to elect someone who has the ability to own somwhere between five and eleven, depending upon whom you believe?
I have to admit that while it's no "Iron Lady", the "pit bull with lipstick" image is going to stick. Something that memorable will keep people's attention and they could vote for her just for that reason.
You're right to a point
But it won't be enough. This was a "shore up the base" pick, but it was not a wise one. It simultaneously alienated the swing voters and shored up the Democratic base as well (Obama outraised McCain by a factor of 8 in the last day). In addition, of course the Dominionists will vote for McCain because of it. (Why on Earth wouldn't they? There are already non-parody Dominionist sites calling on their flock to pray for the success of the McCain/Palin ticket followed in short order by God calling McCain home.)
McCain can't win in a base only election (his base is smaller), and despite the fact that his nomination convention has turned into a story about his pick for vice-president, it's not going to stay that way. He's the candidate.
Look at it this way, even if your friends had been leaning toward Bob Barr or Ron Paul (or staying home), would their shifting to McCain impact the way your state's electoral votes go? And, would that outcome be any different than it was in 2000
2004? If the answer's no, there's not a lot for you to worry about. This was never going to be a landslide election, despite some true believer's dreams. (edited to add) All that has to happen is the states that went Democratic in 2000 stay that way (none are near tipping), and Obama has to carry either Ohio or Florida. Do you think McCain's VP selection increases or decreases the chance of this happening, especially among Florida's older Jewish population, who are already aware that she's 1) a Dominionist and 2) a supporter of Pat Buchanan (for both read major anti-semite).PS Sure, they look great now to your friends now, but give it another few weeks. Caribou Barbie and her First Dude are nasty pieces of work. My experience is that Rednecks generally work that out pretty quickly once they realize the Palins have screwed anyone who ever did them a favor or got in their way. Unless you think the tribalism is enough to overcome the Redneck intolerance for bullshitters and backstabbers, things are not going to turn out well for them (this time--she could very well be the top of the ticket in 2012 or 2016 depending on how things pan out).
I don't bear a grudge. I have no surviving enemies.
I hate to say it...
but I think you're right Brent. I hope no one, especially Joe Biden, will underestimate this woman. I don't think there is much we (speaking as a liberal) can do except continue to talk with and educate people. What can you say to people that are willing to ignore the issues and instead vote for someone "like themselves"? About all you can say is "you're stupid".
I fear things are going to have to get worse before they get better. America is going to have to outlaw abortion and watch their daughter's die through back-street jobs before it gets better. America is going to have to go through some epidemic and watch their children die before they realize vaccines are a good thing and scientists are smart. They're going to have to watch their rights eroded and their children killed by the police for protesting a conservative meeting before they start to stand up.
In short, things are going to have to get so bad it's the equivalent of getting hit in the face by a 2x4! It's going to have to hurt the stupid people and their children in an unavoidable, undeniable way, before they listen up.
I fear it's going to take some jack-ass with their fingers on the button blowing up the middle east because their sky-daddy told them to in an effort to bring about Armageddon before it gets better. Maybe, just maybe, when sky-daddy doesn't show up even then, they may get the message.
I think this stuff is proof evolution is true and without a guiding intelligence.
Sorry for the rant.
hate to say it but...
While I would love to agree with this sentiment, absolutely love to. But, the fact that babies are found in dumpsters around here at regular intervals does not seem to clue people in to the fact that banning abortion doesn't save lives. Of course, the fact that most of said babies were black, and so not the color most of these anti-abortion people are trying to save, probably decreases the impact. You're right though, having their friends and family as the victims of these policies will make them sit up and take notice. It certainly works that way for gamers, censoring things that could be considered damaging to young minds is all fine and dandy until someone's favorite franchise is targeted.
[bq]I fear it's going to take some jack-ass with their fingers on the button blowing up the middle east because their sky-daddy told them to in an effort to bring about Armageddon before it gets better.[/bq]
I've heard that India has recalled its agents from Iran because it figures Bush will do something stupid in the near future. He has so little time left in which to do it after all.
Hey, if you rednecks want to
Hey, if you rednecks want to launch us into world war 3, by all means, vote yourselves in the God-ticket.
Go for it. Have a beer. Shoot your guns. Shoot your kids. WTF do I care anymore?
just like you and me
Yesterday Sam Harris had an op-ed piece in the LA Times that addressed the "just like you and me" issue.
Sam Is Missing The Point...
I'm not saying that I agree with it, or that it's a good idea, but I *am* saying that this is exactly what is happening right now in redneck American homes. I'm hearing it from my own friends and family. You can too, if you just listen a bit.
God, bad, indifferent, or stupid, the "just like you and me" spin may end up winning the election for the Republicans.
So, what are you going to do about it?
Seriously, I'm curious - what do you think is the best strategy for you (and me, and anyone else who reads here) to change this? How do you engage these people to change their minds, to show Palin for the wanna-be theocrat that she is?
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Change their minds?
You can't change somebody's mind on that issue when they already know, and agree with, her view of God.
I know of a few women who were Obama or Hillary supporters who saw Palin's speech last night and said they are going to vote for her. I know more than a few conservative men who were going to stay home or vote third party who have said they will now vote for McCain. Anecdotal evidence to be sure, but hearing this with my own ears and reading the rave reviews online have me thinking that Palin is going to bring in millions of votes for McCain that would have not otherwise been cast. Conversely, those who are so put off by her selection as VP were, in my opinion, unlikely to vote for McCain anyway.
Obama and Biden have thus far played their cards carefully and have denounced the media attacks on her family. But the constant media harping about Palin's family issues and her children will, I believe, backfire on the Democratic party regardless.
I've been saying this for a while
And a lot on this blog lately, that the Democrats can just as easily give this election away as they did the past two presidential elections. As I've said earlier, if they go with the "trust us, you DON'T want to vote for them" and don't get a good, coherent, and consistent message out about exactly why, the squishy middle will go right for McCain ("the maverick that don't take shit from nobody") and Palin ("the chick with balls"). It will suck for all of us.
And don't think there isn't a significant portion of the population, including Democrats, who will absolutely not vote for Obama because he's (gasp!) Black. My mother and step-father have voted Democrat all of their adult lives, and can't stand Bush. There might be logical reasons old-style Democrats would rather vote for McCain, but they don't hide the fact (at least among family) that their reason is because "those people will get all arrogant if he's elected". Three guesses whom they mean by "those people", too.
Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.
Where do most people get their news these days?
The Daily Show. And here's what John Stewart had to say:
You may be right, Brent - we may make a mistake in discounting the 'redneck vote'. But there are a lot of other factors in play here that may well shift that vote in ways you can't predict.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
It's another bait and switch job by the Repubs
For all the aw shucks redneck bs that's being shoveled, it amazes me that people still buy this "have a beer with 'em" measurement of our public leaders. Wouldn't be nice, just once, to vote for someone who was, oh I don't know, really smart? The sad part is that Palin is being offered up to regular folks as another con job. The people who will still own this country are oilmen and they sure as hell don't give a shit about rednecks.
When people say things like, "She's just like us!!!" ask them if they use the same criteria for picking a brain surgeon. Do you want the most elite brain surgeon operating on you, or someone you can hang out with at the local watering hole?
The dogs told me to do it.
I'm beginning to feel a closer tie to mental patients who get messages from barking dogs and see the Martian overlords hiding in the potted plants.
In the past couple of days we've had stories of small town sheriffs stocking up on tanks and 50 caliber MGs to ensure peace and a "hockey mom" with a tendency to ban books, speak in tongues and promote creationism being shoe horned into being the representative of the US to the world (It's given that McCain will be on medical leave in short order)
Please tell me there are support groups or meds that can get me back to the real world. Unlike Brian E I don't think just getting out of the country will be enough if this delusion continues.
Picking a nit
Apologies for being orthogonal to the point, but you meant the "on-deck" spot, not the "at-bat" spot.
Thanks! Fixed. n/t
.
You're right on
Your assessment seems to be the consensus amongst most other blogs I read. I think the Republicans saw a desperate situation for themselves so they took a desperate measure.
I too, do not identify with everything the Democrats stand for (especially the gun control), but Obama, as apparent in his speech, is at least willing to come to the table to compromise on these issues, whereas compromise is not in the Republican dictionary. He has rational viewpoints regarding science, education, and the separation of church and state; something that cannot be said of this GOP ticket.
The day they try and teach creationism in my kid's schools is the day I move out of the country.
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