Our biggest hurdle? The USA is mostly a simplistic rednecked nation!

[gregtownsand]

Honestly, how many people do you meet out there who are really informed on issues? Most people can barely tell you who their own Senators and Congress members are. How many people out there know about the fillibuster? How many can even tell you how long congressional terms are?

I work with a lot of people from Canada and when you hear how much more informed they are on issues that concern them it is mind boggling.

When you consider that we have all this access to news and other media it is astounding that the average American can be so stupid. This board represents a very small minority of informed Americans. This is true of both Democrats and Republicans in general. If you don't believe me ask the people you work with some basic civics questions.

I think the Republican sleezeballs like Karl Rove are more aware of this than Democratic strategists. They seem to know how to exploit trashy issues like flag burning, and Willie Horton, better.

Every election the biggest obstacle for Democrats in my opinion is. The redneck nature of much of the electorate.

[Zalatix]

1. This is not far-fetched. Look at the way the vote is split.

If you take the white vote out, you see no Republicans winning, almost anywhere.

This is a simple fact, not a racist statement.

Makes you wonder if there's a connection between this and the GOP's constant dog-whistling.

[HughBeaumont]

57. There's no dog whistle any more. They went STRAIGHT to the PA system.

It literally is like Reagan all over again with them.

[Bicoastal]

2. Please, please, please, before you start calling other Americans stupid...

...spell "obstacle" correctly.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. Popsicle?

But I hate sweets

[gregtownsand]

5. Never said they were stupid. Only badly informed

And lazy about learning.

[Warren DeMontague]

26. they need a loop of lazy lightning. I must admit it's really frightening.

rope of fire 'round my heart, yeah.

[Ohio Dem]

10. Good point.

And it earned you a heart.

That being said, the OP is right. I had a conversation with my niece recently. Her contention was that Democrats and Republicans are the same. I conceded that I wish the Democrats were more liberal, but I wouldn't accept that they were the same. I asked her if her U.S. Rep the same as mine? She lives about an hour and a half from me, and I wasn't sure. I was not going to be surprised when she didn't know who hers was, and I was gonna point out that she is ill informed. When pressed, she guessed "Kasich." Turns out she didn't know she had one. Later, I pointed to the completely unprecedented filibustering the Republican Senators were doing. She said, "Well, didn't Obama appoint them?". That was the end of the conversation. Here's the worst part: She's quite intelligent.

[Bicoastal]

17. Thanks for the heart!

Don't mind me, it's just my kneejerk reaction to people who dismiss a large chunk of the population as unintelligent. We all have our lapses in education--I know I do.

[Ohio Dem]

18. You are welcome.

That's why I will never give up on my niece. She votes Democratic, so that helps.

[gregtownsand]

38. I NEVER said they were not intelligent.

I said they are uneducated when it comes to civics and woefully so.

[renie408]

76. Oh, come on. You are splitting hairs, my friend.

Yeah, cause 'simplistic rednecks' is really code for 'intelligent ruralists'.

Hey, just fly your Snob flag proudly!

[B2G]

80. You used the word 'stupid' right in your post. n/t

[tledford]

83. It sounds as if your niece has never voted.

Is she under 18 years of age?

[pinboy3niner]

20. And sleazeballs

[gregtownsand]

35. And that is your argument. Correcting spelling?

That is usaully an attempt by an internet poster to change the subject when they know they are owned.

[pinboy3niner]

41. Did you miss the smilie?

Lighten up, Francis. <---smilie

[elleng]

3. Rover is certainly aware of pockets of undereducated and underinformed,

and takes advantage of them. See him in many major population areas, like cities?

[gregtownsand]

6. It is how Bush was re elected in 2004

Rove spent huge dollars scarring small town people that Kerry was for "gays" and wanted to "ban the Bible."

[elleng]

8. Exactly.

[RZM]

21. Looking at HS graduation rates, this argument doesn't work very well

The group with the lowest on-time HS graduation rate is African Americans, who are heavily concentrated in cities. In 2008, the graduation rate for black males was 47 percent. In NYC it was 25 percent. The national average is about 75 percent.

http://www.thegrio.com/specials/making-the-grade/grim-graduate-rates-for-black-males-highlight-racial-gap-in-schools.php

In overwhelmingly white and heavily rural West Virginia, the graduation rate is about 80 percent. That's higher than the national average.

http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=15930

West Virginia has a rate higher than the national average, it contains no large cities, and it has gone red every election since 2000.

African-Americans, on the other hand, are the least-educated group in the country and also by far the most Democratic, voting 95 percent for Obama in 2008 and about 88 percent for Kerry in 2004.

BTW the state with the lowest HS graduation rate is Nevada, which went blue last time and probably will again this year.

http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/8712517.html

[elleng]

23. Assuming high school graduation means something,

which is not an assumption with which I agree generally (unfortunately.)

[RZM]

30. If nothing else it's an indicator of education attained

I used it because your post said 'undereducated.'

Take a look at this exit poll from 2008

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/exit-polls.html

Under education, you'll see that Obama won every group. But by far his biggest margin of victory was among people with no HS diploma, at 63-35. That's why the racial breakdown matters. This large number is almost certainly due to the 95 percent support he had among black voters, who are much less likely than whites to have a HS degree. Hispanics are in between whites and blacks in both education attained and support for Obama.

For the rest of the educational levels here, Obama won by about the same margin for each. 52-46 for HS only, 51-47 for some college, and 53-45 for college or higher. All of those are roughly the same as Obama's national margin of victory, which was 53-46. The clear outlier is voters with no HS education, i.e. the least educated people in the country, who supported Obama by a huge margin in 2008. Reading this thread, you'd think the least educated people in the country supported Republicans, but actually the exact opposite is true.

[Shankapotomus]

51. I think education stats are irrelevant here

African Americans suffered through American slavery for hundreds of years. You can say they have a low formal education stat but their BS detectors on America is the most refined of any ethnic group. As a group they have their finger on the pulse of all the existing injustices in this country. They consistently vote Dem, as well, which shows they know the trouble lies with the Republicans.

[lostnote12]

7. I do not agree...

.......I believe that our nation is an enlightened culture....Our problem as a nation is that the majority does not fully appreciate the powerful propaganda machine that we are inundated with...

[gregtownsand]

9. Next time you are around a group of people under 25

Ask them a few civics questions.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Depends on the group.

There are a lot of well-informed, committed and dedicated young people.

[gregtownsand]

36. I agree but they are still a MINORITY.

Most young people I know bury themselves in video games.

[lostnote12]

15. Good one...lol...

.....I am an old guy that lived on a University campus for 20 yrs.....The rhetoric has changed with the times however I firmly believe that the ideals have remained constant...btw only 20 % of the colonialists actually took up arms against the King....its not that they did not disagree with the revolutionists its more an example of many not wishing to risk too much.....

[gregtownsand]

34. I am not talking about college kids as much as

People I meet at work and on the street.

[BlueCaliDem]

25. I have to, reluctantly, agree,

and I say reluctantly because it's a sad, sad state of affairs when we have a large segment of young people, under twenty-five - and a few young-at-hearts above twenty-five - fall so easily for Ron Paul's bee ess without so much as researching his background. It would be the first thing I'd do when a Republican suddenly appears to do a 180 about face.

I never trusted the guy. He wanted to project himself as a Libertarian, but he continued to remain in the Republican Party. That was the first tip-off he wasn't what he wanted to appear.

Then I learned he was, according to his voting record, the most conservative Republican in Congress since 1937. I mean, he was to the right of Bush and Cheney, even! But how many people bothered to look that up? Not that it was easy, mind you, but the information was out there since 2004 when Kerry ran to unseat Bush.

I couldn't, for the life of me, understand how seemingly intelligent people would support him, defend him against any criticism, and even vow to vote for him while being Liberals! That has died down a lot around here, but there was a time when there were as many Ron Paul fans as there were Dennis Kucinich diehards. Perhaps DK's flippant remark on video that he would consider Ron Paul as his VP running mate back in 2008 had something to do with some Liberals seriously thinking about supporting Ron Paul.

But whatever it was, it was frightening how some very intelligent people here would even consider supporting the most conservative Republican in Congress for president.

[HughBeaumont]

64. + 1000.

Economically, he's actually WORSE than Republicans in the sense that he doesn't just want to defund the social programs, he wants to do away with them completely. Yeah, good luck fending off THAT army of unemployed, seniors and disabled.

It's also endlessly laughable that they deem him an "anti-corporatist". His economic plan would not only allow corporations and the wealthy to get off easier than they're already getting off, but it would cause unemployment in America to skyrocket.

The Wealthy under Ron Paul: "You're giving me all of these breaks? I don't have to PAY taxes? I don't have to regulate my businesses? I don't have to provide health care? Awesome!! After I offshore about 4 to 5 thousand jobs and close some stores/factories, I'm-a take that gravy money, give myself and my boys a raise, buy me a house or three, some commodities futures, play the stock market, go on vacation, etc. What? 'Expand my business or hire American workers'?? PPPPPPPPPPFFFFT!! Phah-Q. I don't have to do that nonsense if you ain't gonna MAKE me do it! I don't have to do shit. Oh wait, did you assume I was GOING to? Heh . . . ah heh heh . . . BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAH! Oh, that's cute!"

Silly Republicans. Trix are for kids.

[xmas74]

56. I work at a university.

I'm around people under 25 every day.

It's no different than any other group-some are very informed, some are not, some don't care, and some are very confused.

Cuts to education and lots of incorrect information, along with an inundation of media produced crap presented as news is thrown at all Americans and we have to wonder why they just don't know what's happening?

Some of this is our own darn fault for not trying to stop it when it all first started.

[Scootaloo]

45. No, the United States has a long, proud history of anti-intellectualism

And anti-rational rhetoric. From almost day one, American culture has taken pride in ignorance, maintaining that "book lernin'" is not at all useful in the world. it's this ridiculous notion that we're still living as rugged pioneers, skinning our own mules and punching grizzly bears - scuse me, grizzly barrs - and shit like that.

[Shankapotomus]

52. I think you are half correct

It is the Left that redeems America and keeps us an enlightened and sensitive culture. But it is the Right that brings us down, holds us back, embarrasses us on the world stage and makes us all look dumb.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Actually, that's not true. Most Americans are pro-choice. Most Americans are socially liberal.

The American people have wised up considerably since the days of Willie Horton. All that crap they threw at Obama in 2008- "socialist", "terrorist fist bumps" ... didn't work out so well, did it?

Karl Rove? Bush had to steal 2 elections just to eke his way into the White House, even after Rove milked 9-11 for all it was worth. The guy is hardly a fucking Genius, more like a one trick pony who had to slink off the stage once the audience saw the man behind the curtain, or heard the album he was lip-synching to skip a few times.

[BlueCaliDem]

22. But the fact

that Rove was able to "milk" 9/11 for all its worth tells a sad story about the American electorate's ability to think for themselves.

Back then, I've read, online, on sites like Common Dreams, the Guardian and some other (now defunct) progressive sites, that there was ZERO evidence Saddam Hussein had WMDs. There just wasn't any evidence to substantiate the claim, yet I watched as this immense and powerful nation was being cuckolded into supporting the NeoCons' wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and how willing the majority of the American people were to believe the bee ess Bush's team fed us.

Even here, on DU, when I mentioned it, I was resolutely dismissed by the majority even when I copied and pasted links. They just told me that even Big Dog said Saddam had WMDs, so who was I, as a Democrat, to question him? I wasn't really questioning him - I didn't even know Clinton had supported Bush and Cheney.

Anyway, now we know it was all a farce, trumped up by corporate media. I wish the American people knew it before we had to go to war.

As an aside, as many people have ripped into President Obama about the PPACA and that it favors ForProfitCare, I knew he hadn't abandoned universal single-payer. As the country assailed him from all sides for caving, President Obama was playing rope-a-dope, as Rick Ungar at Forbes, explains more eloquently than I ever could:

More Proof That The American For-Profit Health Insurance Model is Doomed

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/12/28/more-proof-that-the-american-for-profit-health-insurance-model-is-doomed/

[Warren DeMontague]

24. We should have run someone with moral clarity on Iraq in 2004. That was one big mistake.

But again, things have changed quite a bit since 2004. In 2004 the corporate media had consolidated and the Cable "Newz" networks were a joke, but alternative bottom-up information dissemination processes via the internet were still in their infancy. It's a game of catch up and one-upmanship, but I see good reason for optimism. On issues from pot legalization to Gay Marriage, the American people are CLEARLY moving in a more progressive direction. Right now it's a question of the leaders catching up to where the people already are.

[BlueCaliDem]

27. I agree

100% about the internet still being in its infancy in 2004. However, let's not forget that now the Corporate PTB understand we're becoming an educated people mainly through social networking and blogs, they've been able to capture the search pages. Currently, whatever you google/search, the first six or so pages are filled with rightwing blogs and "news" outlets. You have to siphon through a lot of crap before you get to the truth.

As people become more educated via the information superhighway, Corporate Masters become more savvy, too. They've learned how to harness search engines to their advantage.

[RZM]

13. Here's another hurdle

Dealing with people who go around the internet saying that most Americans are 'simplistic rednecks' in the belief that this statement adds anything at all to the discourse.

They really do us no favors.

Before you start in again on how stupid everybody else is, you might want to work on your spelling, grammar, syntax, and punctuation.

[gregtownsand]

31. Take my challenge, I dare you RZM.

Strike up a conversation with a random person at work. Get them talking about. Political matters. Ask them to name their member of Congress, how long Congressional terms are, get them to name the branches of government.

Haven't you ever seen those man on the street type interviews when people are asked this stuff?

Oh, I am posting from a phone with a very small key board. If my spelling and grammar are all you have to refute my argument that is pretty sad.

[Evoman]

50. Do that with a Canadian. You'll get the same thing.

We aren't as as big the victims of propaganda as Americans, but your average Canadian is uninformed as well.

[RZM]

71. I have done it before

Yes people are uninformed, but what's your evidence that it has much to do with anything you're talking about here? In my experience, many of the least informed people don't vote at all. And I got the sense that if they did vote, they would split much like the rest of the country does, maybe even go slightly Democratic.

See post #30. The least educated voters in the country (no HS diploma) went 63-35 for Obama in 2008.

And what do opinions on Willie Horton or flag burning have to do with being informed? Was there some sort of nuance to the Wilie Horton thing that I missed? He was a convicted murderer who was out on furlough and killed again. One's opinion on that has little to do with being informed or not.

And flag burning. Again, most people know it's legal. They just don't appreciate it when people do it because they find it offensive.

Either way, these examples are way out of date. When's the last time you heard flag burning as a major issue (besides the last couple weeks on DU)?

Your spelling and grammar are not all I have to refute your argument. But like I said, if you're going to step up and say how stupid everybody else is, it looks bad if your own ducks aren't all in a row first.

[Union Scribe]

14. Oh bullshit.

You're talking like some stereotype liberal come to life. Is that what you're going for? If that's your attitude towards the voters, it's going to hurt us a hell of a lot more than it helps.

[gregtownsand]

32. Strike up a random conversation with someone.

Ask them civics questions. I dare you. Do you ever listen to righty radio. Those are millions of people. Just how am I wrong?

[DisgustipatedinCA]

79. What's your explanation for the existence of Republican voters in the millions?

If it's not ignorance, then what is it? I understand greed accounts for the already-rich, and those who think they'll one day be rich. As to the those who think they'll be rich one day camp, that just reinforces the claim of ignorance. So what's your take on about half the country identifying as Republican, when that's clearly an awful life choice to make for sentient beings?

[AceWheeler]

16. It's not who thinks Republicans (or anyone for that matter) are/is ignorant and/or stupid...

...it's who is glad they are. Karl Rove is glad. Most liberals are flat our angry.

Unfortunately, many who are ignorant and/or stupid don't know this, and folks like Karl are certainly not going to bring it to their attention. Karl's not only glad, he's counting on it.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

19. The biggest issue in this IMO is the media

Owned & controlled by the 1%, it pushes twist & shout style propaganda designed specifically to misinform. And it's not just Fox either.

[Quantess]

28. There are ignoramuses all over the world, don't forget.

There are people in Europe who are also terrible at geography, lousier than you would have guessed.
But the USA fas FOX, which really makes our collective intellect go down the toilet.

[Bed and Nun]

29. It is discouraging

Dumbing down of the electorate is only one of the many destructive strategies employed by the oligarchy

[gregtownsand]

33. So true....

My point exactly.

[Tripod]

37. good point.

[hfojvt]

39. one of our biggest obstacles is

Republicans convince these voters, somehow, that 'liberal elites think they are better than you' and for some mysterious reason this does not sit well with many voters.

[book_worm]

40. Spoken like a true latte liberal

I've seen so many sentiments such as this on DU. Thankfully I know plenty of good liberals who don't go around with their noses in the air looking down on others.

[gregtownsand]

43. I am not turning my nose up at anyone.

Further more there are many Democratic voters who don't know much about civics as well.

It is a fact. The average American for whatever reason is misinformed or completely devoid of civics understanding.

[Kablooie]

42. But we're the greatest simplistic redneck nation in the world.

[aaaaaa5a]

44. The breakdown of the base of each party is really pretty simple.

Democrats-Minorities and well educated whites


Republicans-Uneducated and less educated whites



Among white voters the greater your education achievement, the more likely you are to vote progressively. A poor, rural, white southern male with a high school degree or less, is the most likely demographic group in the country to vote republican.


It is factually accurate to say that the GOP is the party of the less educated.


Here is how the top 10 most educated states (+DC) voted in 2008

1. District of Columbia Democrat

2. Massachusetts Democrat

3. Maryland Democrat

4. Connecticut Democrat

5. New York Democrat

6. Virginia Democrat

7. New Jersey Democrat

8. Colorado Democrat

9. Vermont Democrat

10. New Hampshire Democrat


And here is how the bottom 10 states in the country based on education voted


42. Idaho Republican

43. Iowa Democrat

43. South Dakota Republican

45. Oklahoma Republican

46. Nevada Democrat

47. Mississippi Republican

48. West Virginia Republican

49. North Dakota Republican

50. Louisiana Republican

51. Arkansas Republican



Do you see a trend?

[Redstate Bluegirl]

46. YEEHA!

But that's not true of everyone.

[JCMach1]

47. I think the problem is the 'average' American, not specifically

poor, white, working-class.

American culture as a whole tends to be individualistic, self-obsessed... hence ofter myopic without must curiosity beyond that small field we can see easily.

Other societies, like the one I live and work in, might see the big picture but ignore the BS right in front of them (or about themselves).


Ultimately, is it a problem? Or, is it just an unwanted by-product of our American culture?

[mmonk]

48. Might have to do with what they are exposed to as news.

&feature=related

[Evoman]

49. You must only know smart Canadians. I am Canadian, and most of us are uninformed as hell.

Do you think it's a mystery why we keep voting in right wing conservatives as well? While we aren't as extreme as Americas right wing, it's mostly because we are cognizant of good policy due to being exposed to it. We directly see the benefits, whereas Americans are ignorant because they haven't had the chance to. The reason we have a universal health system is because we have lived it with so long, we are afraid of it being taken away. It's like your teabagger who loves their medicare. If you guys had single payer for 10 years, then even the right wing crazies would love it and refuse for it to be taken away by "commie bastards", lol.

No, my friend. Don't let yourself be convinced that Canadians are that much smarter than Americans. Our voting turn out is low, and most people hold simplistic, idiotic views about complex issues. If we seem smarter, it's only because we have a different culture. We may appear collectively smarter but individual Canadians are mostly dumb as rocks.

[quaker bill]

53. It is not a lack of information

The people are not uninformed, they are quite well informed, unfortunately with myth and broadly inaccurate information. They have bought into a frame, more precisely a structure for perception, through which they view and make sense of the world unfolding before them. It is a very detailed frame and because of it, they percieve reality in a very different way. To allude to the Matrix, some took the red pill and some took the blue pill.

In this alternate frame, more taxes = less freedom, feeding the poor = encouraging dependency, the rich really do "create jobs" because most of us curiously actually happen to work for rich people. It is the opposite side of the chicken - egg conundrum. Do rich people "create jobs" or is it that many people having jobs happens to create some rich people? Can a truly free people choose to tax themselves to provide desired public services? Can a communist government ever be "freely elected" even if the people vote for it? Did free people actually invent government, whole cloth from nothing, because they wanted and needed it? Ask a Paulite if this is even possible.

Breaking through a frame for perception is tough. This last recession / depression did some work, but it never got tough enough to get the job truly done, as the election in 2010 proves. The fact that being rich or overtly for the rich is somewhat a liability in this cycle shows that a crack has been created in the frame, but what will be done with it? will it be expanded or spackled over? Time will tell. These sorts of thoughts occasionally keep me up late. But mostly I make jewelry in my spare time and attempt (occasionally successfully) to sell it to rich people (better in my pocket than theirs).

[renie408]

54. Listen, the average American works like a frigging dog, has kids and a home to take care of and

a shit ton of problems that they may or may not see as directly related to who is sitting in Washington. Yeah, I have to admit that most Americans are pretty ill informed. I am very lucky that my lifestyle makes it easy for me to drill down into issues and not just take what is handed to me by the MSM. But it takes time and effort and this is actually my hobby, so to speak. I have a friend who has three kids between the ages of 6 and 10 and just a part time job. If she has 30 minutes a day to herself, I will be amazed. Actually, I would guarantee she doesn't have 30 minutes a day to herself. And she spends so much time frazzled and running from one place to another that when she does have some time, she probably isn't going to spend it looking deeper into political stuff.

That's not an excuse; it's a reason. I do think Americans should make more effort to be informed, but I understand why so many don't.

[xmas74]

58. I was thinking of something similar.

The average American is swimming in bills, struggling to keep their heads above water. They don't get most of their news from Fox, CNN, or MSNBC-they get it from their local affiliate while waiting for the weather report. Guess what? The 10 o'clock news doesn't exactly do a great job with covering everything since that would steal the thunder from the network broadcast from earlier that day. And many of the networks have merged with cable, so it's easy to see where this is going.

The average American might have five minutes to read a newspaper while on break-maybe. Between that, maybe a quick blurb on the radio while driving in to work, and the 10 o'clock news that's the only exposure they usually have.

The OP refers to everyone as rednecks. Instead of trying to put a wedge between "us" and "them" why aren't we upset about how the average American has to struggle to even get by? (Oh, and though my politics are "us" my lifestyle is most definitely "them".)

[gregtownsand]

60. I agree with you. What Im saying is the CONS exploit this.

NT

[Fumesucker]

55. I'm pretty sure some DUers are redneck to the core...

According to black belt level redneck Jeff Foxworthy redneck is more about a certain glorious lack of sophistication, rednecks actually like Bud Lite Lime and Velveeta Mexican on Lays corn chips with chitlins on the side once you get drunk enough not to care where they come from..

[xmas74]

59. I know plenty of rednecks who vote Democrat.

There are plenty of good rednecks out there and by attempting to insult them the OP is driving a wedge.

It's too bad-a good redneck can be a very loyal friend who will always have your back.

[gregtownsand]

63. How do the NRA types fall for that crap every election?

Obama has not tried to pass even one new gun law.

[xmas74]

86. Not all rednecks are NRA-types.

And the propaganda runs high in some of the more rural areas.

I don't own a gun and I don't want one. It doesn't mean that I don't understand why some do own them. If you live 20 miles from the nearest town a gun might make you feel a bit safer, since it could take quite a bit of time for a deputy to arrive on scene. If you have cattle you might need them in case of attacks against the cattle. And most use them for hunting. I knew families from school that would take off during the hunting season. The reason was because whatever they caught would be processed at home and canned, frozen, or jerkied for the winter. What was grown in the garden during the summer, fished for and hunted in the late fall was what they ate that winter.

Now tell those families that someone wants to take away their guns and how do you think they'll react? The Republicans know this and play on those fears.

That's how they "fall for that crap". Well that, and they stumble upon message boards like this disparaging their entire way of life.

[Fumesucker]

70. Rednecks are nothing if not stubborn..

A friend comes and bails you out of jail..

A good friend is in there with you saying "Damn, we kicked their ass!".

Hold m' beer n' watch this.

[xmas74]

88. I've been involved in a few float trips

where the entire theme was "Hold my beer n' watch me."

It was also common every time they'd dig out the potato gun, pull the 4 wheelers out of the shed, or think of some crazy thing to add to their truck with duct tape.

Good people. We'd be lucky to get a few more of them on our side.

[renie408]

62. WAIT...Mexican Velveeta?? Are you kidding me? Where do you get that?? n/t

[Fumesucker]

65. Doh! At the Walmart Supercenter..

[renie408]

66. Of course! What was I thinking??

You know what I love about a Walmart Supercenter? I can go buy the newly discovered Mexican Velveeta at 2 am if I want to.

[Fumesucker]

68. Are you making fun of my shopping habits?

[renie408]

75. Shit no! Is there anything more fun than Walmart after midnight?

And it is so much cheaper than the zoo.

(edited because apparently I say 'Are you kidding me?' way too much)

[xmas74]

87. You haven't had Mexican Velveeta yet?!

It's kinda like Velveeta and Rotel all mixed together. Just pop it in the microwave and voila!

[ananda]

61. A misread ...

I read "Most people can barely tell you who their own Senators and Congress members are"

as

Most people can barely tell you who own their Senators and Congress members."

LOL

[renie408]

67. No, that's another thread. n/t

[A wise Man]

69. When I was in school for advertising media

one of the main objectives were to know your TARGET Audience. Most of these Republican nuts understand this. They market themselves to the most ignorant of ignorants. They believe that most of their audience are the most hateful , racist and bigots in this country disguising themselve as the only TRUE AMERICANS in this country. All the republican candidates know this to be true, so they campaign to what works for them. THIS IS FACT NOT FANTASY!!!!

[kctim]

72. Basically, all you are saying is

everyone who does not share your opinions and beliefs are nothing but dumb rednecks.

[Dreamer Tatum]

82. It's a major "obsticle" to their argument, isn't it?

[ieoeja]

73. It's the media.

News guys this morning mentioned that Obama had great support in the rural areas in the Chicago market, while the rest of Illinois hates him. So why are rednecks nearer Chicago so much better informed than rednecks in the rest of the state?

People in the Chicago media market hear the exact same Rightist propaganda as people further out. But those further out hear only that Rightist propaganda. They do not get any accurate news reporting to counter the propaganda.

If 100% of the news** tells you that Obama's policies are destroying this country, it takes a great deal of effort to decide that you are right and everyone else is wrong.


**This is where DLC policy kills Democrats. Rural news would not be 100% Rightist propaganda had rural Democrats not joined Republicans in propagating it a couple decades ago.

[mick063]

74. too many variables.

This is like predicting the weather. You would need a super computer crunching a multitude of variables, in parallel, at a high rate of speed to accurately define political trending. Look no further than Santorum in the past week to understand how politics is such an innacurate science.

You can categorize into groups, but the overlaps are many. Some Catholics want access to birth control, some middle class believe in trickle down, some liberals want deficit reduction, some Christians believe in separation of church and state, some wealthy believe they should be taxed more, the list goes on and on.

It is dangerous to lump folks into groups and say they are all that way. That is unless you are talking about FOX news. In that case, they draw a paycheck from being that way. It is not in their job description to change their minds. This is why I believe that FOX News consistently carrys more influence than any single group.

It is the folks that can't switch the channel to get a comprehensive view that is the biggest hurdle.

[former9thward]

77. If the U.S. is "mostly a simplistic rednecked nation!" how did Obama get elected?

If we win the election then the electorate is informed but if we lose then it is 'rednecked'? Sorry you can't have it both ways I will agree the population is very uninformed about our government. The main fault of this, from my experience, are teachers who are just as uninformed as their students on the subject.

[aptal]

91. Very good point...

Also, living in rural America myself in a tobacco growing town I can say that many of the "rednecks" vote D because their family has for generations.

[jimlup]

78. I think you are partially correct

But I also think that the democrats know that there is an informed group within the electorate.

I would also contend that both sides are aware of the ignorance of the typical voter. The republicans do perhaps play to it more than the democrats. But both parties use propaganda techniques to sway large numbers of voters.

[Dreamer Tatum]

81. Three spelling edits later...

[annabanana]

84. Solution: Civics class. Everyday, k - 12

In kindergarten the could get the "3 branches" pounded into their little noggins.

Students could have a working knowledge of
ALL the major S Court decisions by 6th grade.

[quakerboy]

85. If they are so much more informed

How is it that conservatives have an unassailable majority up north right now?

I don't totally disagree with your basic premise, though I would state it very differently. The preponderance of humanity are uninformed, mostly passive creatures. If there is not a very strong structure in place to subvert that natural order of things, they will stay that way.

Its not just our country, nor is it even primarily our country. Its all of our fellow humans. Seems like the least informed of us can run down the names of the entire team from the last time their favorites made it to a championship game. And they know who is coming up on the next draft pick. But politics, that requires work and self introspection, and examining motives. So we skip it. Its not "redneck" as you put it. Its Human.

[MineralMan]

89. The originator of this thread has

been shown the door, and is no longer in the building. Last words on leaving were "Wha...."

[Odin2005]

90. Your snobbery is noted.