The "la-la-la I can't hear you" vote AKA the SPITE Vote
I've been ranting about this spite vote for a while. About how I believe Rove manipulated & twisted normal North/South urban/rural rivalry into a RED versus BLUE life or death "frame", just to get votes for GW. But this guy says it better:
The Spite Vote
[RED voters] .. are attracted to viciousness for a lot of reasons.. they vicariously scream and bully others into submission through right-wing surrogate-brutes. Spending time watching Sean Hannity is enough for your average American white male to feel less cowardly than he really is..
[they] vote for the guy who delivers a big greasy portion of misery to the Sarandon-Robbins dining room table, then brags about it on FoxNews.
Even if it means hurting [themselves] in the process
Still doubtful ? Then ask yourself why all this RED RAGE we see now
Do they look happy? Nope. Instead of parties and kudos what you hear is how we Blues are such loosers and should go away to France. How all conservatives even remotely disloyal to Bush have to resign NOW from their GOP/ Admin posts
Red Rage
They aren't happy! They are scared. They are vengeful. They are acting exactly like the teenager who got herself drunk in front of her daddy's friends just to spite him... Who was that ? Jenna Bush
As Maureen Dowd points out:
Slapping the Other Cheek
You'd think the one good thing about merging church and state would be that politics would be suffused with glistening Christian sentiments like 'love thy neighbor,' 'turn the other cheek,' 'good will toward men,' 'blessed be the peacemakers' and 'judge not lest you be judged.'
Yet somehow I'm not getting a peace, charity, tolerance and forgiveness vibe... I'm getting more the feel of a vengeful mob - revved up by rectitude - running around with torches and hatchets after heathens and pagans and infidels
The Spite Vote (cont.)Millions of Americans, particularly white males, don't vote for what's in their so-called best interests
I CAN TELL YOU WHY. They do so out of spite Put your ear to the ground in this country, and you'll hear the toxic spite churning. [their] wretchedness leads to a desire for vengeance, to externalize the inner famine--it leads directly to the Republican camp.
..the happy supply has been cornered by the beautiful, famous and wealthy coastal elite, the ones who never age, and who are just so damned concerned for the have-nots' well-being. In that sense, you can see how the Republicans were able to successfully manipulate the meaning of "elitism" to suit their needs. They weren't just selling dogsh*t to the credulous masses; they were selling pancreatic balm to the needy.
Spite-voters also lack the sense that they have any stake in the future of the country... [they] know that the country is not theirs.. [they] vote for the guy who delivers a big greasy portion of misery... Even if it means hurting [themselves] in the process
Spite wasn't all that Rove used
He also stroke their ego, gave them a reason to feel proud, by putting a "red impersonator" in the WH and using the flag waving patriotism as a GOP thing. Bush was painted as their alter ego: Call Bush dumb and you are calling them dumb. A Bush victory was relished as their victory...
Dems were painted as elitists, against the troops, smearer of vets... Their shame with Abu Ghraib, the WMD fiasco, the civilian casualties was immediately reframed as "smearing the US soldier", and smearing the reds themselves, by proxy.
More on the Red Pride, Red Spite two step punch Rove threw at us here:
1. Because we're grownups! (We don't vote out of spite)
2. Would you vote for people who openly call you dumb ?
3. Proud to be American crowd voted Bush
4. Gloatfest or Bush High School
5. Church is not all..