Had an epiphany today about Republicans

[BlueStateBlue]

I was thinking that a lot of Southern republicans must be feeling so betrayed since Katrina, and I realized that there is an enormous difference between the religious southern republicans who bought the line that * is a Christian and the republicans that I run into all the time in suburban NJ.

Those poor southern people really thought they were doing the right thing in supporting *. These pigs that are running rampant around here are in it because they think being a republican makes them appear richer than they really are.

They have to talk the talk so they can be in the "club". They do it for the same reason they lease the Benz and sign on the dotted line for the interest only mortgage on the McMansion. Classic "don't be a schnook, it's not how you feel, it's how you look" mentality. Makes me want to :puke:

[WearyOne]

1. why does anyone in the South vote Republican ? ..it must be

against their best interests especially the poor

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. civil rights

LBJ knew he lost the south for a generation when he signed it... it is... that simple

[Poiuyt]

5. True. My cousin just moved back to Wisconsin from Charleston and

said that people there talk about the Civil War virtually every day. "The South shall rise again" is no joke to them.

[cssmall]

7. Yeah, that's the bourgeois idiots over in Charleston.

Fuck'em, but seriously, lots of us down her want the South to rise again. You know why? So, that the majority of us don't live in poverty, but as long as you have that influence. *laugh*

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. no it is not

time to think on how to reach the people who BENEFITED from civil rights and EMPOWERING Them

[autorank]

11. That's right. The formula: Civil Rights + Southern Strategy=Red South

There is an element here that will emerge to blow the minds of those white Republicans we can actually get to vote for us.


The story of the Gretna bridge is stunning. Gretna LA police blocked the bridge to their city, which had power and easier access because they didn't want Gretna to turn into NOLA, they said. Well, they effectively created the tragedy in the Convention Center at least, maybe the SuperDome also by doing this. All the people had to do was walk across the bridge and they were out of the mess.

There are two points of shame here:

1) The blockage of the bridge is pure RACISM and caused the suffering period, no argument. The police could have taken care of security or called on help since it was accessible. This is total bullshit. IT'S THE SOUTHERN WHITE RACISM CAUSING UN-TOLLED SUFFERING. I'D BE TOTALLY ASHAMED, GOOD FOLK WILL ALSO.

2) The blockage of the bridge is a Federal and State problems too. Someone in authority should have been there to tell these racist law enforcement locals, "Look, move away or we'll do it for you. Got it?" That should have been done. The fact is wasn't is a problem of state and Federal response. Total bullshit.

Face the "big ugly" -- racism caused every bit of suffering in the Convention Center from the point at which the bridge was blocked on. OWN IT!

[BlueStateBlue]

4. It is! But they think they're putting God first

They've really bought the whole lie that republicans are morally superior.

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. WHITE= GOP

the Modern GOP is racist, PERIOD

[holboz]

10. They appeal to people like my dad and brother...

They don't necessarily vote Republican, they vote AGAINST "yankee bleeding heart liberals". Both are Air Force vets.

My dad isn't racist, and he's definitely NOT a religious conservative because he doesn't go to church. He'd give a stranger the clothes off his back. He's a sucessful businessman but he thinks "Yankee Liberals" will tax him to death. My sister and I try to give him the facts but he just won't listen. Everytime I go see him he has Faux news on TV. sigh!

My brother on the hand, IS racist but he goes to church every Sunday...he's even a sunday school teacher. Go figure, eh? I don't even waste my time trying to convert him.

[mitchum]

14. Despite all of his talk about "rebelliousness", the typical cracker...

is historically servile.
Servile to the plantation owner in the big house
Servile to the cotton mill owner
Servile to the textile mill owner
The "boss man is always right" mentality is pervasive in the south. Even when the "boss man" is just a goddamn football coach.

[melody]

15. "cracker" is an obnoxious racial slur for poor southern whites

It's a term for poor whites who've nothing to do with the "plantation mentality". Those people couldn't even afford a milk cow, let alone a plantation.

My grandfather was a "cracker" and was a liberal Democrat who worked hard for the union and for civil rights.

The south doesn't vote Republican, it votes southern. With Clinton and Gore, they won a lot of the southern vote because they were homeboys. And Shrub was never elected in the first place.

The ones who aren't blind Christbots for God in the south, support Bush because of the old idea that you dance "with the one what brung ya" and because a few are dumb enough to think he's really from Texas.

I wish northern (and beyond) folk would stop generalizing about a very complex region that isn't reducible to Dukes of Hazard stereotypes. And yeah, Mitchum, I know you're a Georgian, but I'm speaking to the whole problem, not you.

[mitchum]

23. Melody, I honestly wasn't using cracker as a perjorative...

(I also come from "cracker" and "swamp trash" stock)
However, your pro-union, pro-civil rights grandfather was an exception to the typical cracker mentality. You should be proud of him. He sounds like a remarkable man.
I still stand by my assertion that historically the typical southern white embraced a hierarchal social order. There was very little that was "rebellious" about giving up one's life in order to further the economic interests of a handful of wealthy landowners. But it is a comforting and enduring myth.

One thing that I would like to clear up though, although I now live in Georgia, I am a South Carolinian. At least the palmetto state had pretensions toward gentility and culture :)

[melody]

26. I know, just making the point n/t

[Carolab]

2. You are so right.

And I think a lot of wannabes are in this club too--I have actually heard some say that they believe that "Republicans are rich" and that by being Republican they will be too. How stupid is that?

[pro_blue_guy]

6. It's called incompetence and ignorance

[newyawker99]

20. Hi pro_blue_guy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[bobbieinok]

24. after 2000, our precinct dem meeting...some longtime dems said their

kids voted repub b/c they perceived the dems as 'losers', ie on welfare, wanting handouts, not rich,etc

RW propaganda has sure done a number on the democrats!!!!!!!

[trackfan]

9. You hit the nail on the goddammotherfuckin head

I know some Republicans here in a blue state who basically agree with Democrats on almost any issue, yet vote Republican to belong to the team of "swells".

[mitchum]

13. But there are also plenty of suburban rednecks in the south...

who also lease luxury cars and live in Mc Mansions for the same reasons as their brethren in suburban NJ. They overrun my town every time the University of Georgia plays a home game. "Cobb County's finest" are here right now.

[NJCher]

16. yeah, I'd agree with that

Have you ever been out to the expensive lake communities in Morris County? Plenty of beemers there with GWB stickers on them. There is one rather unconventional but artsy-type lake community that had lots of Gore signs up, though, and nary a bush sign.

Whenever I see a bush sticker it's either someone like you described, dressed up in an expensive suit with a Mercedes or beemer. The other types seem to be flag-wavers.

At any rate, not a lot of either type around here, thank God.




Cher

[BlueStateBlue]

21. I work with a couple of wanna-bes

Luckily, I work for a small family business where the owners are as blue as they get, now that the formerly republican 79 year old member of the family has been converted by Bush's arrogance.

My boss has a "Repeal the Patriot Act" bumper sticker on his office door, and I gave him a GWB punching bag for his birthday last year.

Thankfully, I live near Montclair where you see lots of Kerry Edwards bumper stickers.

[Tatiana]

17. Well I'll give you three reasons poor people in the South vote for Bush.

1. God.

2. Taxes.

3. Prejudice.

Obviously the rich people vote for Bush in order to get rich. For poor people, it's different. They know that Bush's policies are harmful. When I was down south this summer for a family reunion, many people I talked to could name Bush's disastrous policies as well as any DUer. They blame him for high gas prices. They blame him for the quagmire in Iraq. They openly admit he's stupid. They blame him for the poor economy. But if you ask them, given all of these shortcomings (and general lack of qualifications to be CIC), they generally fall back on the above-mentioned reasons.

He's a man of God. Even David sinned, but he has a man after God's own heart, they say. Bush loves the Lord and therefore we should still support him, no matter how much he destroys this country. Or, it's that he's cutting taxes and those damn liberals just want to raise taxes to fund more abortions and benefits for gays.

I think another major factor is that many of these people harbor prejudices. Prejudices against gays, against single parents, against people of color, against independent women, against everyone ironically in the same boat they are in.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

18. This part of NJ (Southern) was a very good deal 15 + years ago

We have a lot of people with substantial houses, (then were 115,000-120,000, a great school district, very democratic). With this last housing swell, there is nothing under 400,000, in the area. The Repub's moved in, and the Dem's are moving out, with a lot of money in their pockets.

I suspect in the near future, the housing bubble will hit, the money for the great school district will be withheld, and the prices of houses will plummet. The Repub's are going to end of screwing their own greedy patrons. I just pray I get out, before that happens.

[NJCher]

19. and they do it every time

Like clockwork. You could plan when to get in and out of investments on it.




Cher

[BlueStateBlue]

22. Where are you planning to go?

I've been so depressed over this housing bubble for so long now. I got fooled playing by the old rules - paid off all my debt, saved up a decent downpayment, and started looking for a house to buy in 2001.
Now I'm priced out of the market.

Call me crazy, but I refuse to borrow three times what I think is prudent in order be a "homeowner". I think the crash is going to monumental, too, but what do I know? I've certainly been wrong before. Maybe it really is different this time.

[electron_blue]

25. I've got news for you

The people I know who supported Bush for religious reasons, still support him and if anything, they blame the Dems (big surprise) but also just say it is an Act of God, which Bush could not have foreseen.

It's not rocking the foundation of many of them.

[KayLaw]

27. I think it's the media

When I walk around my neighborhood, a lot of workmen (contractors, roofers, etc.) have AM radio shows blaring from their trucks. Fox "news" is a problem, too.