I predict that McCain will beat Obama in the general election this November. Why do I say this ..? Even though I consider myself an independent ..history shows that military leadership trumps intelligence. I mean, look at what happened to Adlai Stephenson when he ran against Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950’s ..or Eugene McCarthy when he ran against the Vietnam War in the 60’s.
Although Obama is more popular with the general population, a poll taken by the independent Pew Research Center found that white working-class Americans identify more with McCain. The majority of these Americans think Obama is too ‘intellectual’ or not ‘sufficiently mainstream’ (for some, ‘Obama’ is simply a funny-sounding name). Last week, a Bloomberg poll found that the majority of white middle-class voters prefer McCain over Obama 45% to 41%.
How do I explain these findings ..? Although Americans are more educated than before ..census shows that middle-class Americans are still largely under-educated ..at most, only 15% finish college (which is higher than 10% back in my day). What does this mean ..? (Besides the fact that I’m a poll-freak) It means that ‘critical thinking’ is not a value shared by many middle-class Americans. We resist new ideas ..rely on old-fashion ideology ..and prefer a leader who’ll protect us from the ‘unknown’. So, while the ‘unknown’ is a territory we all share ..it definitely covers more ground for the segment of the population that lacks a higher education. As a result, mainstream America is susceptible to the politics of fear and ignorance ..which definitely favors the party in power.
(I realize that this post is chock-full of over-generalizations and bias ~ a heap full of apologies to anyone I offended)
3 comments:
You are absolutely correct, you know. Most Americans... or a very large majority, at least... are like sheep... basing most of their decisions on gung-ho machismo and/or whoever can appeal to the moral majority.
I'm not immoral, I tell you! But I certainly don't base my life on how the majority think I should live it. Unfortunately, we are so stuck in many backward ways, that it is really scarey!
Shimmerrings ~ what disturbs me most is the widespread belief that war is the way to solve problems ..especially in the Middle East. I don’t really believe it takes a college education to see what’s wrong with that ..just a willingness to think it through.
I hear you... and war never ends... it goes on and on and on... and when we think we have nothing to fight about anymore, we find yet another reason to kill... it makes no sense at all... the whole world is slap crazy, and steeped in blood.
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