I was thinking, last night, about just how stupid some political 'experts' are on TV.
Take, for example, the nugget that Obama should have courted the voters in places like rural West Virginia more. If only he had made more appearences, Hillary wouldn't have won in the way she did.
Rrright...
For those that actually think that's viable, I have a video from BBC's 'Top Gear" for you to watch. Enjoy ...and there's more, below the fold.
Pretty striking stuff, huh? You don't really think people in the Redneck areas would really play up to the 'Deliverance' stereotypes if there's nowhere near you like this. These three professional car testers / TV stars from Britain didn't think so.
And it could have cost them their lives.
So the question is: how does Obama deal with this issue? The New Yorker has an article that, near its end, says he should not mention it. Just ignore it.
No speech, on race or élitism or anything else, would move them. Here was one part of the white working class—maybe not representative, but at least significant—and in an Obama-McCain race they would never be the swing vote. It is a brutal fact, and Obama probably shouldn’t even mention it.
And that's usually a great way to make something go away for future generations, right? Just ignore it and hopes it resolves itself? That's how you show people you're strong too, right? Just look the other way?
No.
I think the best solution is one suggested in this article from Watching The Watchers...
Obama should mention it. I think he should stand there in full view of the public and say:
Listen, I'm not dumb. I know there are some of you who will not vote for me because of how I look. To the rest of you, I say, is that how you feel? Is that how you want your country to function? Is that not part of the entire package of things that must change if America is to carry on its ideals and have its actions match its stated values?
If so, then look closely at me, not my skin. Examine my actions and my policies and compare them to my opponent's. And I think that you will then vote for me as an American, just as I plan to represent you as an American.
And the racists and the smear mongers and propagandists be damned.
Damn the boys in the pick-up that will concern troll, when they have no intention of voting for Obama (uppity or not). Damn the 27% that are too proud and too stupid to ever change their minds, no matter how wrong they turn out to be about everything.
It's a 50-State plan. Not a "everyone living in a land of rainbows and buttercups" plan. And judging by this video, Obama is wise in not thinking that all some people need is a little "courting."
And yes, I know not all the South is 'like this'. But it didn't look like many people were anything but 'like this' in the video.