Did anyone catch the latest FOX presentation of Paris Hilton heading off to rural Arkansas? Think the Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and the like put into the now fashionable "reality" show format.
FOX, perhaps inadvertently, gives us an extremely subversive show -- it would make a great ad for the Dems (if they ever decided to look into class and the already obscene income disparity in this country) -- under the Bush tax plan, Paris pays no income tax (receiving her income from dividends), to say nothing of the elimination of the inheritance tax.
The dynamic at play here is the loose, obscenely rich and frivolous coastal girls vs the hard-scabble salt-of-the-earth Arkansas farm family.
Although there's no overtly political dimension to this show, the girls clearly represent the decadent (Democrat) urban West Coast (and New York, which they talk about) whereas the hard-working, simple farm family probably vote Republican and believe George Bush is the second coming.
The Democrats refusal to talk about class has allowed the Republicans to frame any such contrast in simply moral, lifestyle terms -- and when you think about it, how the Dems end up associated with leeches like the Hilton family (who probably give money to Bush like most of their class) demonstrates how thoroughly inept we've been at framing the debate.
If you get a chance, check out the show. You'll probably gag as I did, but it's a good starting point for clarifying some issues of how our party has screwed up and perhaps generating some ideas of how to progress.