Working class voters: why America's poor are willing to vote Republican | The Guardian
The question of why poor people vote Republican is not simply an issue of income but primarily race and partly region and gender. Poor people may be more likely to vote Democrat; poor white people are not. In 2008 McCain won a slim majority (51%) of white Americans who earn less than $50,000 (this is just below the national median income which is not poor but the only figure available from exit polls that breaks down votes down by race and income), while Obama won a whopping majority of non-whites in the same category (86%). Asked in May which candidate would do more to advance their family’s economic interests middle-class white voters who say they are struggling to maintain their financial positions gave Romney a 26 point lead over Obama.
But that support is less pronounced among white women than white men and is not uniform across the country. In Mississippi 84% of whites who earn below $50,000 backed McCain: in Vermont 70% in the same category voted for Obama. Of the nine states that backed Obama in 2008 in three less affluent whites went for McCain, in five they backed Obama and one was a tie. In all of them non-whites voted Democrat.
The Guardian’s Gary Younge takes a closer look at what he believes to be the driving forces behind poor and working class Americans’ ballot decisions.
— Scott @ ShortFormBlog
My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people — not all of them, but most of them — who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists. The real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin. That’s despicable.
Retired Army Colonel and former aide to Colin Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson • Diving headfirst, in the most blunt terms possible, into the media dust-up kicked off last Thursday by Romney surrogate John Sununu. Responding to news that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had endorsed President Obama, Sununu suggested that Powell had a “slightly different” reason for doing it than politics – namely, his race. Sununu reversed course on this today, saying “I do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the president’s policies,” but not before Wilkerson unleashed this incendiary attack on some of his fellow Republicans. An attack which, frankly, seems destined to generate a lot more heat than it does light. source (via shortformblog)
LARRY WILKERSON IS NOT MINCING WORDS!
July 29, 2012 - Mitt Romney told ABC’s David Muir that paying more in taxes than was legally required disqualified a person from being President.
September 21, 2012 - Romney disqualified himself from being President.
The Romney campaign released a statement from Romney’s Trustee, Brad Malt saying:
The Romneys’ generous charitable donation in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor’s statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.
(emphasis added)
Head to desk.
Rinse desk.
Repeat.
Source: jecarter4
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Failed Republican presidential candidate and part-time governor of Alaska offers free advice to Romney campaign -- "Go rogue" because America needs a "Come to Jesus" moment.
I am certain that the Romney campaign was waiting for these words of strateregical wisdomry with bated breath.
“Hey, is that how you spell ‘bated’?” asked Sarah Palin. ”Because we ‘bated’ fishing line all the time in Alaska.”
In response, a Romney campaign spokeswoman stuck her face into both hands and let out a sigh of exasperation, before saying “Fine, we’ll do what she says.”
“As a woman, my health is important to me.
So when it comes to that time of the month, I don’t trust my body with just anyone.
That’s why I choose the one brand of tampon created by the people that know my body best: the gentlemen of the Republican Party.
G.O.B. Tampons — designed with all the knowledge of a woman’s anatomy that only comes from being a 60-plus-year-old conservative man.”
— Saturday Night Live
Representative Paul D. Ryan faced a tough and at some points hostile audience on Friday at the AARP convention here, drawing applause when he introduced his mother but eliciting wide boos and shouts of “No!” when he called for the repeal of Obamacare, as well as scattered shouts of “47 percent” and “liar” as he attacked other aspects of President Obama’s policies.
While Mr. Ryan received a standing ovation from many in the crowd when he was introduced – and was applauded at other parts of his speech – it seemed to be the most critical audience that the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman has faced since he was named last month to be Mitt Romney’s running mate.
The response contrasted with the more positive reception given to President Obama, who had spoken to the convention over a satellite link earlier on Friday morning. AARP is a nonpartisan organization but supported the Affordable Care Act, which many Republicans refer to as Obamacare.
The booing started when Mr. Ryan repeated his ticket’s longstanding view that the health care law should be repealed.
The New York Times, “Mixed Reaction for Ryan at AARP Convention.”
Well you didn’t think Mitt Romney was going to have all the fun in the run-up to Election Day, did you?
This is probably the first time the GOP ticket has had to endure the wrath of a constituency that will be most affected by their plan to change Medicare as we know it. And to top things off, Paul Ryan’s mother was there! So much for trotting out that secret weapon whenever the Ryan / Romney campaign had to address seniors.
Side note: the Romneys released their 2011 tax returns — showing they ”paid a higher effective tax rate than the average middle-income American, though a significantly lower rate than the average rich, or very rich, American” — on a day when Paul Ryan got booed and Ann Romney’s plane had to make an emergency landing. (No one aboard was hurt, thankfully.)
In short, the Romney camp waited until Friday to have a case of the Mondays.
The demographics race we’re losing badly. We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.
Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM (R - South Carolina), as quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jay Bookman in an article from Aug. 30 looking at race and the GOP.
In some respects — in very few respects, as it turns out — the portrayal of the Republican Party as a group of angry white men is a caricature that couldn’t possibly be true.
But then a columnist like Bookman points out something just about anyone with a set of functioning eyeballs noticed while a prominent conservative like Graham utters the statement above and and Mitt Romney practically dons brownface for an appearance on Univision and oh, yes, can we see the first-ever black president’s birth certificate, please? and suddenly there’s no way it’s not a caricature.
Romney and the Republicans are at their most honest when talking about ignoring the 47 percent and at their least when claiming to be the party of the “100 percent.” The GOP only has itself to blame for the perception that they only care about one segment of the population.
Is there a way to fix that? Absolutely. Easier said than done, but the Grand Old Angry White Men Party (Lindsey’s words, not mine) needs to bring more minorities and women into the fold. Considering the party’s views on things like immigration, abortion, healthcare reform and more, that’s a tall order. But there’s something to be said for hope and change, even on the right.
And while Graham’s comment was beyond the pale, it turns out that that’s exactly where the Republicans need to start looking.
(h/t The Colbert Report)
Only two percent of delegates to the Republican National Convention last month were African-American.
Not that the GOP was counting.
Democratic voter enthusiasm surges.
Both in swing states and nationally.
Independents too; GOPers less so.
Though I imagine that hearing the phone pollster’s voice — “With respect to this year’s election, would you describe yourself as extremely enthusiastic, very enthusiastic, enthusiastic, somewhat enthusiastic, not very enthusiastic, not at all enthusiastic, or wishing you were in another country right about now?” — might take away some of that enthusiasm. :-)
(via huffpostpol)
Source: gallup.com
1500s: The American Revolutionary War begins: “The reason we fought the revolution in the sixteenth century was to get away from that kind of onerous crown.”—Rick Perry
1776: The Founding Synod signs the Declaration of Independence: “…those fifty-six brave people, most of whom, by the way, were clergymen.”—Mike Huckabee
1908: The real Pledge of Allegiance is written: “I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior, for whose Kingdom it stands, one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe.”—Dan Quayle
1999: Global cooling begins: “For the last decade the climate has been cooling.”—Mary Matalin
2011: Obama provides health insurance for dogs: “In the health care bill, we’re now offering insurance for dogs.”—Glenn Beck
2011: President George W. Bush kills Osama bin Laden: “Thanks to George Bush…. Because if Obama had his way we wouldn’t have gotten bin Laden, you know that.”—Sean Hannity
Highlights from “A Conservative History of The United States” by The New Yorker’s JACK HITT.
It’s disturbing and brilliant all at once. Because these aren’t just throwaway sentiments: these are things some prominent conservatives actually believe.
