Won't you come home, Bubba Bailey? Thoughts on the poor white vote.

[chaska]

A friend of mine believes that Bubba (forgive the stereotype - everybody understands the meaning of Bubba, it's easier than having to talk around it), my friend believes that in order to get back the Bubba vote we must get back the church.

I have written here before about the importance of symbols. Symbols and institutions are important to people. I suspect they are more important to the less intelligent than to most of us here. My friend thinks that the church has a real civilizing effect on ... Bubba (see, it's just easier), that while he is none too "good" with the church as an influence, he would be less "good" without it. He thinks it has something to do with a need for authority. It makes sense to me that some would find the idea of an instruction book on how to live a successful life (the Bible) attractive.

I think the military is an important institution (and natural constituency) for us, as well. This is one reason I am excited about the possibility of a Clark presidency (you knew that was coming, didn't you?). Seriously, Clark has the potential to bring the military back home (we haven't had them since Viet Nam). What with the way Bushco is treating the military (pay cuts, etc.), this is a real possibility.

Likewise, we need to embrace the flag and patriotism again. I know it's difficult to contemplate becoming "one of them", those unthinking, unquestioning bots. Often I bemoan the fact that I have to think, when so many others have such easy lives, unburdened by ... questions, by always asking "why". But this is why we are losing, to the extent we are. We have given up ownership of some of the country's most important institutions and symbols. These things are the very foundation of our nation, and without them I don't see us getting back the poor uneducated whites.

Bubba cares about social issues, and because we have no presence in the church those issues are spun not in our favor. Think about it, how are our positions on poverty, for example, not more like Jesus would have them than Pat Robertson's or Jerry Falwell's positions? We are right, but if we're not there to help shape the message....

So, I conclude that we should begin to work to reclaim a place in those institutions, to loudly proclaim our right to stand under that flag, whether we be misfits and malcontents, or God forbid, normal. If we don't begin this process we will continue to see an erosion in our ability to be an influence for good in the - Yes, by God - THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Spam alert: This is why I see the election of General Clark as pivotal.

[Doctor_J]

1. And the media

Unfortunately, the uneducated whites believe what they hear on talk radio. Believe that PigBoy is on their sides, that the tax cut will actually help them, and that AA is what's keeping them down. If we ever get a toe hold in the electronic media, especially talk radio, we can start to get the truth out among the burgoise.

[_Jumper_]

2. That is one reason we need to nominate the most electable candidate IMO

We need to revive the Fairness Doctrine and put an end to 24/7/365 brainwashing sessions masquereding as entertaing political analysis on talk radio as soon as possible.

[solinvictus]

3. Exactly!

They honestly believe that the check for $400 or so and the annual tax break of about $20 is really going to change their lives. All the time, the Bushistas are working to lower their wages, eliminate employer benefits, and make it easier for corporations to shunt work safety rules. Bush and company must find it hilarious that they enjoy support among the very people they seek to destroy.

[chaska]

4. kick

[chaska]

5. Shamelessly kicking it for the morning crowd.

[Nay]

6. I reluctantly agree.

A church, military and social presence is necessary. If we aren't in those institutions, we are "elitist" and "too good" for what's good enough for Bubba, and this is reason enough for Bubba to turn away from us.

Once we are in all the relevant institutions, maybe we can slowly turn the country in the correct direction without arousing animosities.

[loudnclear]

7. Until "poor whites" can put aside their racism and vote their economic

interests the gap between rich and poor will only continue to widen in this country. A sinking ship drowns everyone on board. Racism is still a big hole in the bottom of the American ship.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[QC]

9. "white trash"

Yeah, that kind of talk will really show them how much we respect them.

[bearfartinthewoods]

15. wow...bubba and white trash in less than seven posts

yeah........this will pull them in.

hint.......try to be a little less condescending next time,

[bobd]

10. I Am Truely Frightened of Bubba (and religion)

This is a very interesting topic and I'm surprised that there hasn't been more posts on it ...

As I said in the subject line I am quite afraid of Bubba and perhaps even more afraid of religion. One of the subtexts in Bubba's conservatism is the fact that liberals, liberal atheists especially (a la yours truely), have no right to their views or even, in some cases, to exist at all! Sometimes I get the distinct feeling that some Bubbas would just as soon see folks like me dead. Embracing Bubba on his/her turf (e.g., the churches and the military) runs the risk of eventually embracing such anti-liberal views, in my opinion. That said, we DO need to find a way to speak to Bubba's concerns.

For those of you DUers who are religious, I beg of you, once Bubba and his conservative religion has been brought back into the Democratic fold, to let us atheists exist and fully participate in society (e.g., hold public office, teach, etc.) We are not the monsters that religion makes us out to be.

Anyway - just my two (pretty worthless) cents.

Bob D.

[JPace]

11. Poor Southerners are

proud and patriotic people, but I don't think
they understand how far behind lower income
Americans are falling behind in living wages
compared to other advanced nations. No one is
telling them. That Southern pride would be
shaken to find out Uncle Sam is failing them
financially and they are not living as well
as citizens in many other counties. Someone
in the Democratic Party ought to be telling
them about minimum wages and benefits given
to working people in these countries. They
are being manipulated by the right to vote
against their own financial best interests.
---------------------------------------------

Minimum wage (hourly) in Euros


Remember that most of these countries get free medical
care and 4 to 6 weeks of vacation.


Luxembourg .........................9.67

Netherlands...........................7.35

Belgium ...............................6.85

France .................................6.67

UK .......................................6.57

Ireland .................................6.43

Italy .....................................6.41

U.S.......................................5.69

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Appealing to economic interests is the way to go

A lot of racism and fundamentalist religion among poor whites comes from fear, especially fear of unrelated changes that have affected them negatively.

Poor whites were always treated badly by wealthy whites, but during the days of unquestioned racism, they could always take comfort in the fact that there was someone below them.

The Republicans beginning with Nixon very cleverly portrayed The War on Poverty as a set of programs to help people of color only, although it was never that, and when it was first proposed, the images we saw on TV were those of poor whites in Appalachia.

It's also easy for the Republicans to use affirmative action as a campaign issue, because poor whites know that they don't have any power in the system.

Fundamentalist religion provides an emotional release from frustrations and sense of being part fo the spiritual elite. Like racism, it gives people on the bottom someone to look down on.

I would like to see the Democrats take an approach something like, "Are the Republicans waving flags and Bibles in your face while they're picking your pocket?"

I suspect that if poor whites felt that they had a chance to get themselves or at least their children out of the McJobs trap with decent housing and health care, they would be a lot less racist, or at least a lot less inclined to act on their racism.

[snippy]

16. Excellent post. I wish you ran the democratic party.

I like your suggestion of the place to start:

"Are the Republicans waving flags and Bibles in your face while they're picking your pocket?"

There are three totally objective economic criteria that clearly distinguish the democratic party from the republican party. These are job creation, federal deficits, and the performance of the stock market. If the democratic party would spend the time and money to make sure that every American over the age of 12 knew the difference between the parties on these criteria, the country would be much better off.

Job Creation

Republican presidents are always, always, always bad for job creation. Since the 1920's, the annual rate of job creation under republican presidents has always been lower than under democratic presidents.

Since the depression, not a single republican president has had a better rate of job creation than any democratic president. The highest rate of job growth under a republican was 2.2% per year during Nixon's time in office. The lowest rate of job growth under a democrat was 2.3% per year during Kennedy's time in office. Bush has had a -0.7% annual rate which is the first negative number since the depression.

Since WWII ended, a total of 57.51 million jobs were created during the terms of democratic presidents which is an average of 2.054 million jobs per year. During the terms of republican presidents a total of 31.11 million jobs were created which is an average of 1.003 million jobs per year.




All of these numbers are from July, 2003.

Federal Deficit

Since Kennedy was president, republican presidents have always run higher federal deficits in current dollars, in constant dollars and as a percentage of GDP, than democratic presidents, except for 1968. In the 42 years since Kennedy's first budget, the federal government has run accumulated deficits totaling roughly $3.5 trillion. $3.2 trillion of this debt piled up in 22 years under republican presidents. $300 billion piled up in the 20 years under democratic presidents.

Republican presidents - $3.2 trillion in deficits.
Democratic presidents - $300 billion in deficits.

Some conservative economists attribute this to the fact that fiscal conservatives in the republican party are not allowed to attempt to block spending by a republican White House.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/sheets/hist01z3.xls

The estimates in the table for 2003 and subsequent years are no longer applicable. The current estimates are much higher. Also, the numbers for the first year of a presidential term are from the budget of the preceeding term.

Stock Market

The stock market also performs better under democratic presidents.

The excess return in the stock market is higher under Democratic than
Republican presidencies:nine percent for the value-weighted and 16 percent
for the equal-weighted portfolio.The difference comes from higher real stock
returns and lower real interest rates,is statistically significant,and is robust
in subsamples.The difference in returns is not explained by business-cycle
variables related to expected returns,and is not concentrated around election
dates.There is no difference in the riskiness of the stock market across
presidencies that could justify a risk premium.The difference in returns
through the political cycle is therefore a puzzle.

http://www.personal.anderson.ucla.edu/rossen.valkanov/Politics.pdf

This analysis covers the years 1927-1998 and separately examines the years from 1927-1962 and 1963-1998. Results which included the years from 1999-2003 would show an even greater difference.

I think that if many of the poorer working class Americans who vote republican knew these facts they would begin to question what the republican party tells them.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JPace]

14. "Maybe we could push for a minimum wage of $50 an hour"

How about $7.00 or even $10.00 an hour. Your
suggestion seems excessive but at least its in
the right direction. People need a living wage
and medical care that is gauranteed. How about
three weeks of vacation?

[snippy]

17. The absurdly high minimum wage argument advanced by some very

poorly educated conservatives ignores the fact that the federal government actively pursues policies that are intended to prevent the unemployment rate from reaching such a low number that employers would have to compete for lower skilled workers by offering higher wages. I have always found this somewhat amusing since so many conservatives masturbate to fantasies of the glories of competition, but lose their arousal at the thought of a competitive marketplace for workers.

Any time you encounter someone who offers the absurdly high minimum wage argument, you can be certain that you are dealing with a very, very ignorant conservative.