Reply #44: Do you realize how patronizing that sounds? [View All]

[mbali]

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! The way to win them back is to educate and convince the poor white Southerners that their interests really are *THE SAME* as those of poor Black Southerners!!!! Corporate America and the repubs are the only ones who gain anything by having these groups divided! . . . It's a matter of explaining to the poor white Southerners that the Dem platform is what's good for them."

First of all, Dean wasn't speaking about "poor white Southerners" - your assumption that he was perpetuates the same stereotype that Dean is probably harboring.

Second, believe it or not, poor white southerners aren't stupid, but apparently Dean thinks they are. These folks KNOW their economic interests are the same poor black Southerners. The point is that many of them don't care because that's not what they're voting on. A significant portion of white people - poor, rich, Southern, Yankee - vote Republican because they think Republicans will protect the priorities that they think are important. They vote Republican because they want to be sure that their economic interests are NOT the same as those of black folks. They vote Republican because Republicans guarantee performance of the centuries-old social compact that tells white folks that no matter how poor or downtrodden or miserable you are, you can ALWAYS feel superior to someone else.

This has been true for decades, it's been discussed for decades, it's been grappled with decades by minds and hearts much deeper than Howard Dean.