vovat | Pre-Election Jitters

I get annoyed when people claim that race isn't going to be a factor in the presidential election. I KNOW race is a factor, because I've heard people say, sometimes explicitly and other times in thinly veiled code, that they don't like and/or trust Obama simply because he's black. It certainly SHOULDN'T be a factor, and I'm sure it isn't for many people, but claiming that it won't be at all is demonstrating ignorance (and probably willful ignorance) that racism is still alive and well in this country. I really hope that people can overcome their racism enough to elect Obama, but I don't think it's a guarantee.

One thing I have to wonder is how many people actually fall for the weird campaign techniques that the media keep talking about. I mean, I've heard that there really wasn't a significant movement of Hillary Clinton supporters to Palin, but you certainly wouldn't have thought that from watching television around that time. And now there's McCain telling people at his rallies that they're ALL Joe the Plumber, and having them define themselves as "[Name] the [Occupation]." But is this actually a big movement in the country, or is it really only the people who attend McCain rallies who buy into it? I know I don't want to be compared to Joe the Plumber. And what also gets me is how the McCain campaign is trying to sell being ordinary as a positive thing. You know, that's not the world I live in. It's always been my thought that everyone wants to be EXTRAordinary, and we all consider ourselves to be better and smarter than average. But now it's apparently a great thing to be average, and "Joe Six-Pack" and "hockey mom" are compliments. Come on, the middle of the road is not where anyone WANTS to be. It's where they end up when they've given up all hope, and don't really mind if they get flattened by a gas-guzzling SUV. I'm a notorious pessimist, and I haven't resigned myself to a life of ordinary obscurity, so I have to wonder just how bleak things are for the people who have. The funny thing is that McCain's poster boy for ordinariness ISN'T settling for an average life, but rather hiring a publicist, trying to get a recording contract, and even contemplating a run for Congress. And if McCain is still trying to sell Joe the Plumber as a typical hard-working American, well, I doubt the guy is fixing all that many sinks while on the campaign trail with Johnny B. Goode and Sally Six-Pack. I'm just saying, is all.

Incidentally, Joe's actual last name is Wurzelbacher, which I assume means that he's from a proud line of manufacturers of circus organs.

Another election I'm concerned about is one in which I can't vote, because it's in California. After the judiciary system decided that gay marriage was legal, some genius decided to let the public vote on it. I say there are some issues too important to be decided by the masses. I learned in my high school government class that our system isn't supposed to be based simply on majority rule, but rather on majority rule WITH a focus on minority rights. I mean, do you think slavery or segregation would have ended if it had all been up to the voters? So why should the majority be able to choose whether or not certain people can get married?

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Where would the world be without the regular guy? He (and she) are average by definition: the average Joe wants to be something more, yes, but if they all become something more than they just move the average up a notch!

Okay, but once you get your own publicist, I don't think you count as a regular guy anymore. And why can't lawyers and professors be considered "regular guys"? Just because the work they do isn't manual labor?

Aside from that, if I wanted some guy to represent the everyman, I'd want to choose someone a little nicer. I mean, Joe is telling people that a victory for Obama would mean death for Israel.

I know it is to some people -- the Klan and the Skinheads are still around, after all -- but I really don't think it's a big deal to the vast majority.

The people I've heard making such comments certainly don't belong to any organized racist groups. And if that's what people are saying in a blue state like New Jersey, I only imagine what's happening in places like Alabama.

Maybe it all comes down to the definition of "regular guy". You could make the argument that virtually everybody is a regular guy: lawyers, professors, Congressmen, the President -- they have pet peeves, favorite TV shows, hopes and fears, worries about their families, and simply good days and bad days. I've been thinking on this, and have come to the conclusion that we're all regular guys when you draw back all the trappings of fame and power. (Could we make exceptions for, say, Albert Einstein, or Mother Teresa?) If anything, that's exactly what's so great about America: This was, and to an extent still is, one of the very few places where anyone can use his brain and elbow grease to work his way up in the world. L. Frank Baum was just a regular guy, and a few years later he was the most beloved writer in the country! Bet he was still a regular guy, though; I want that for myself, and if I get it ... I'll still be just me, only with a nicer car and a newer laptop.

As for Joe, nobody chose him to represent the regular guy; he was picked by fate, and the fact that he turned out to be far from perfect just makes him even more of a regular guy. It wasn't his fault that his history has been probed and exposed as much as the candidates' were.

I maintain my belief that the white racists in our country are probably being matched by the black racists, at this point in our history. I really do think they'll cancel each other out, as far as voting goes. The more important question is, how can we eradicate that kind of thinking in this country? We can't just tell people not to be racist; we can't take their kids away and "reeducate" them. We certainly don't want to live in a country where the police bust down your door at 3 a.m. and haul you away for being stupid. I think the internet has helped by exposing us to other cultures, but some people just refuse to get smartened up.

As for Joe, nobody chose him to represent the regular guy; he was picked by fate, and the fact that he turned out to be far from perfect just makes him even more of a regular guy.

I guess I can see that, but the guy seems pretty radical in some of his views. Obviously he's not perfect, but I wouldn't say he's exactly average, either.

I maintain my belief that the white racists in our country are probably being matched by the black racists, at this point in our history.

While some (perhaps even many) people might be voting for Obama simply because he's black (although they don't seem to be anywhere near as vocal as the people who wouldn't vote for a black guy), I wouldn't necessarily call that racist. It's more misplaced loyalty, or perhaps a desire to make a historic choice rather than to elect the person best suited the the job. (Mind you, I think Obama IS the most suited to the job, but I didn't vote for him based on his race.)

Hm. I've still not heard a single person who said they wouldn't vote for Obama because of his race (I've heard stories about others, of course -- skinhead jerks. Where has the Klan been lately, by the way?) Well, anyway, I remain happily under the impression that Obama won for reasons other than the color of his skin.

Yes, I think he did, too. I'm glad my predictions about race being a major factor apparently DIDN'T come true.

I only imagine what's happening in places like Alabama.

Now you've hit a sore spot. I'm Southern (and white) and well aware of the racism of all stripes here in the South. It was venal and horrible in past generations, and it's only slightly less so now. It still exists. But when I hear people make comments that it's worse in the South than in the North or the West, I have to disagree. There is every bit as much racism in Illinois or New York or California as there is in Alabama, you just don't hear it or see it until the racists feel threatened. Even then, it's couched in code, and practiced in the secrecy of the voting booth. In Alabama and other Deep South places, people are so proud of their ignorance, they'll look you in the eye and proclaim it. They even wave a cute little flag to let you know. And while such crap makes me sick, at least you know where and who the enemy is.

But when I hear people make comments that it's worse in the South than in the North or the West, I have to disagree. There is every bit as much racism in Illinois or New York or California as there is in Alabama, you just don't hear it or see it until the racists feel threatened. Even then, it's couched in code, and practiced in the secrecy of the voting booth.

That's definitely a fair point, and I apologize if I implied the South is more racist overall. I guess what I meant was that, if people are VOCAL about not wanting to vote for a black guy in the Northeast, they might well be even MORE vocal about it down south. (I was going to say "past the Mason-Dixon Line," but then I remembered that I actually live south of that line. {g})

My state (Indiana) was pretty much the capital of the Klan for many years, O I couldn't argue that one if I wanted to.

Pre-Election Jitters

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