Sunday, May 27, 2007

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Tunnel vision

NPR recently went to Nebraska to talk to Republican voters about how they feel about the Republican party these days. They went to the “normally Republican suburbs of Omaha,” and talked to, among others, a young woman called Lindsay Smith, an “outspoken Republican.” Ms Smith “describes herself as a hardcore conservative, opposed to abortion, in favour of deporting all illegal immigrants, and she's afraid the Democrats will win in 2008.” She has this to say:

I'm really scared it'll be a Democrat, because so many people are angry at Republicans, just because of the war and because of the economy, the housing market, gas prices, everything... everything that goes on [unintelligible], Scooter Libby, on and on and on, I don't... I think a lot of even Republicans, even a lot of hard-core Republicans have turned against 'em, just because, it's like, there's so many things messed up.

“Just” because? Just because? Indeed, just because the Republicans have screwed up the economy, the environment, the education system, the entire country, and a good bit of the rest of the world, just because they've lied and cheated, broke the law, and are provably corrupt, well, just because of that, it's no reason to stop voting for them. We wouldn't want any liberals running things.

Oy.

Another Nebraskan, Joe Gerstant, says this:

My parents, who I love to death, [think that] as long as the Republicans put someone in the White House who's a man of God, nothing else matters. It's “good” versus “evil”, so it's not about finding common ground.

Oy.

The good part of the message is that Mr Gerstant's parents and Ms Smith appear to be supporting a losing cause, even in Nebraska. Ms Smith finishes off by answering the question of whether she has friends and neighbours or family members who will vote for Rudolph Giuliani, on the more moderate side of the Republican party, eschewing the hard conservative side. She answers this way:

That aren't happy with the Republicans? My entire family. Except for me.

That's a start.

2 comments:

Ray said...

I hear this sort of thing too often - how Shrub is such a great president because he's a "good Christian". It utterly baffles me how anyone with even a single functioning brain cell can possibly still believe such a thing, and it simply strengthens the belief I formed over a decade ago, after having lived here just a few short years, that the population of the USA are, for the most part, completely brainwashed.

It is baffling and depressing, and also very scary that such opinions can be held, but I have to believe it is by people who have no ability whatever to think for themselves, and are simply led by the nose and told what to believe week by week from the pulpit and on "talk radio".

Anonymous said...

I heard this same piece, and also loved the "everything" comment. It taught me a lot (more) about American politics...

{inw}