Hillary Wins the Racist Vote!
Posted on May 14th, 2008 in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
She called out to white people, and they responded…. Hillary won big in West Virginia. The Times reports that…..
Two in 10 white West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their votes. More than 8 in 10 who said it factored in their votes backed Mrs. Clinton, according to exit polls.
Ah, West Virginia.
It all reminds me of the underrated and quite scary 2003 movie, “Wrong Turn,” in which a group of out-of-state hikers in West Virginia are set upon by cannibalistic mutants, the horrific result of decades of incest, who try to kill them all in order to chop them up and eat them, and are generally successful.
Now there’s some election-year analysis you won’t find on CNN…..
5 Responses
5/15/2008 9:07 am
God, Richard, you are such a snob. You really are.
5/15/2008 9:19 am
You’re right. I totally apologize for making fun of the 16% of West Virginia Democrats who *admitted* that they voted against Barack Obama because he is black. That was really mean.
And if 16% said yes to a pollster’s question that people almost instinctively deny, what do you think the real number is?
If getting angry about people who happily admit that they voted for a candidate based on race makes me a snob, then sure. I’m a snob. And proud of it.
5/15/2008 1:04 pm
Richard, have you ever done or said a racist thing?
5/15/2008 1:40 pm
Sadly, I have, more than once, and probably more than I know. Though the things I’m thinking of were/are unintentional, I can remember each one vividly, painfully, and with profound regret. It’s one of the reasons I feel so strongly about this issue.
For example: Once, in 5th grade, I used the n-word in front of a black kid. I really had no (or very little) idea what it meant; I thought it was a joke. But I’ll never forget his reaction, and that act of cruelty is one of the things I most regret in my life.
So…yeah. I take this stuff pretty seriously. And the idea of feeling comfortable enough with your racism to tell a pollster that it affected your vote—well, there’s just no place for that in American life.
Or, well, maybe there is. But there shouldn’t be. And for Hillary Clinton to be pandering to that sentiment, and indeed, sanctioning it—it’s just tragic, and it can not be condemned too strongly.
5/15/2008 5:25 pm
I think you are a snob, because you labeled an entire state “cannibalistic mutants, the horrific result of decades of incest”. The economy of West Virginia is one of the most fragile of any US state. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, West Virginia is the third lowest in per capita income, ahead of only Arkansas and Mississippi. It also ranks last in median household income. The proportion of West Virginia’s adult population with a bachelor’s degree is the lowest in the U.S. at 15.3%. The black population in WV is only about 4% of the total population. And 40% of West Virginia lives below 200 percent of the poverty line.
I’m not arguing that racism is allowable by any means and Hilary’s pandering to it is deplorable. But it is a largely poor, uneducated, white population. And being that, they gravitate to what they know. I don’t think you have any idea what it feels like to be that poor and to have no opportunity for education or opportunity. So a little haha is your game.
And I don’t think CNN would said WV is inbred because it is a snobby thing to say. And a very limited point of view.