Today I read a thoughtful letter written by
A Sad American who is in her thirties and lives in the South. It is addressed to the democratic party about why we did not earn her vote despite some leanings. She goes through each of the major issues paragraph by paragraph. The entire piece and the hundreds of comments that follow it are worth a soul-searching read by all angry, smart democrats if we want to learn and earn her vote and millions like her in the future.
Our problem, bottomline, is that we are so worked up in a lather about the true mess our country is in that we are turning people off with our preaching. We aren't the stable party, we're viewed as the hysterical, angry party. We need to calm down and get back to basics.
What follows is an excerpt from the end of the letter. With this woman we had a bird in the hand and we crushed it with our anger and our self-importance. We need to eat some humble pie before we can move forward.
.... I hope this doesn't hurt anyone feelings, because my objective is to make you think, not emote: I don't think you really want my vote. I actively sought out your perspective. I tuned in regularly, for months, to your biggest media project, your serious effort to get your message out: Air America Radio. I listened all day on Good Friday as host after host mocked people like me for believing in Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. I listened as Janeane Garofalo, who was one of my favorite comedians for years, expressed hatred and disgust for Bush voters so vile that I ended my live stream feeling assaulted, as if I'd been vomited on. I listened the night that Mike Malloy told a young Republican to hang up the phone and go open a vein. I listened to pure, unadulterated venom that was so intense I sometimes cut the stream and cried. Tonight, your spokespeople on AAR have been calling people like me "snake-handling evangelicals," and that was about the kindest thing I heard. Um...y'all? I've lived in the South my entire life and have never met a single snake-handler.
Your attitudes, language, and behavior toward people like me: reasonable, thinking Christians who are quite moderate politically and who are just as well-informed as you are (yes, I've read all the PNAC essays, too, and yes, they scare me, too) is reminiscent of nothing so much as an abusive ex-lover, a crazy and drunken stalker. "I'll make you love me, or you'll regret it, you worthless bitch! Come here and let me beat you over the head and tell you how stupid and worthless you are! Then you'll see it my way!"
I tried so hard to give you guys a chance. I'm young, I'm not extremely religious, and I'm supportive of liberal ideals like fighting for higher wages, stopping outsourcing of jobs, and standing up for the little guy. I wanted to vote Democratic this time, more than I can possibly put into words. You just didn't give me the option.
President Bush won on values, yes, but not hatred of gays or any other stereotype you have in your head about Bush voters like me.
He won because he has values, clearly defined values, and even though I agree with little of what he believes, at least I know what he believes. At least I know that he really does believe in something. At least I know that he will do what he says he will do.
That's disgustingly little, but unbelievably - you offered me less.
So, if you want my vote next time, and the vote of all my close friends, and the millions more like us that you refuse to believe exists, it's pretty simple: take positions and don't waffle on them. Stand up for America, especially with regard to terrorism. Shut up about what Germany and France think. Stop pretending that the only way to become wealthy in America is to cheat, for the sake of those of us who still want to get there. Treat the President with at least as much civility, if not respect, as you would've wanted right-wingers to give a President Kerry. Most importantly, please, please please, please, please, please stop abusing me. No more verbal and psychological and emotional savagery. Treat me like a voter whose vote you would actually appreciate getting, and you will get it.
These are the people we need to sit down with over coffee and seek to understand. Perhaps we just needed a little more time, or perhaps this election and the anger that rose from it is the end of a new beginning from where we come together with these people and show our true colors.
[editor's note, by slammers]Update: Many comments have come in asserting that the letter above is a hoax. It may be I don't know . I found a link to it from instapundit.com while trolling GOP sites. Regardless, my point is the perception the writer conveys is there for us to analyze and learn from. I think it's worth studying because I've sure run into a fair number of women who share some of this woman's impressions.