Very well said, Owen. ;-}
As the "assumer" who suggested that you had an unBubba-fied background, I submit my heartfelt apologies. Now, back to your original question: "Why is this race so close?", my opinion is that religion is the major factor. And yes, I correlate religion with a lack of intelligence. IMO, either less intelligent people are attracted to fundamentalist-style religion, or religion makes smart people stupid. Don't know which it is; don't care -- the effect is the same. Consider this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/palin-claimed-dinosaurs-a_n_130012.html *Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said. * I truly believe that the Republicans among us are attracted to this Fundamentalist "Christian" orientation. It is the Republican party that has traditionally courted the conservative Christian component of our society, and this is why I believe the race is as close as it is. In suggesting this, I am disagreeing with Steve's assessment that only 50% of the Red voters are voting Red for religious/racist reasons, I suspect that it is a much higher percentage who are motivated to vote against a black Democrat for these reasons. I do agree with something that Roger said earlier -- that there really isn't much difference (effectively) between between the two parties. The political system is large, inefficient, and hugely susceptible to corruption. I fully expect that if Obama wins, four (or eight) years latter we will find ourselves disgusted with the corrupt, inefficient, back-biting Democratic party. I myself am an Independent, I do not believe that the two-party system serves our best interests. Since Owen has proposed a study in this general topic area, I'd like to add my own suggestion for a research topic: what percentage of the US population is motivated to vote for the reasons demonstrated by this crowd: http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/mccainpalin-supporters-let-their-rac and why has our society tolerated and fostered their belief set? --Doug On Sat, Nov 1, 2008 at 9:07 PM, Owen Densmore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Very well said, Steve. I probably should have been a bit more clear about > my interest in the close vote. > > After the 2004 election, and the gawd awful disappointment that I felt: > - That the dems would have such a horrid candidate > - That idiots would still vote for Bush > .. I started healing by looking for what was really happening. > > I found this critter: > http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/october6/onenation-106.html > It pointed out that rather than being divided, we're not .. we're simply > centrist and that creates a close election by its very nature. > > Look -- I understand our natural desire to consider "them" all idiots. But > we have family and friends who are "them". > > I was just chatting with my friend Boni Armijo, who's dad/family own > Johny's Cash Store, across from our casita. We talked about the election. > Boni (who's also on the city's development council) was clearly thoughtful > about the election. Last time he voted for Bush. This time, he's for > Obama. > > I *really* respect the Armijo family and the Rios family and others who > live in my neighborhood. They are considerate, thoughtful, warm people. > They have gently accepted my family into their town. They have great good > manners. Yet we here on this list consider them "them". > > So rather than accepting fundamentalism as our great divide, I tend to > think we are very centrist, and indeed, this is likely the cause of our > close vote. Thus my quip on the Central Limit Theorem. > > In an earlier post, it was assumed that I did not have particularly wide > experience of the "rest of us". I don't accept that. I was raised in the > south, with all the Bubbas. I worked as a kid on construction gangs with > "them". My last two years of high school were in a Benedictine Abby because > I was thrown out of all the high schools I attended before that. I attended > Georgia Tech. I met my first yankees there. I spent two years in the Peace > Corps in Ghana, West Africa. I was humbled by their sophistication. I > traveled widely in Europe. I was amazed by their world. I went to grad > school at Syracuse, up state NY. I was busted for political activity. I've > had dogs set upon me for thinking differently. I tripped with Tim Leary. I > lived 6-8 years in a Buddhist community in Rochester NY. I rode the .com > boom/bust in Silly Vally. I attend St. Francis cathedral. And on it goes. > And I still find that "them" is "me". > > -- Owen > > > >
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