This is my first post here of a political nature, and I'm afraid it's going to anger some people. I know it pisses me off.
I suppose I should tell you my political leanings first. Not to start an argument about them, but so that you will know that the observation I am about to make isn't because of them.
I am what you might call a liberal. I must be. After all, blogs are "The Media" and everyone knows liberals control the media (because we can read, write, and speak coherently). I am not a Democrat, but I usually vote for them, because I always vote against Republicans.
And that is what this post is about. Very few people vote FOR a candidate. They vote against the one that scares them. It is rare that people find a candidate to get behind because they LIKE their politics or message, and when they do, that candidate usually doesn't get far. Good examples of this are Ron Paul in this election and Howard Dean previously. Both got a very strong following because of their politics and ideas. Neither made it to the end, though.
That's why the Barack Obama thing is so interesting. People are rallying behind him for his message and politics, not just because they dislike the other options. And this rallying has him in a position where he very well could win his party's nomination.
But I am sorry to tell you that he will not be the next president, and neither will his worthy opponent, Hillary Clinton, no matter which wins the nomination.
But the polls are saying either one could beat Republican John McCain. And they could, if the people taking the polls were the people who were going to vote.
The thing is, there are people that would never want a black person or a woman to be president, not for political reasons, but because they are, as anthropologists call them, "racist and sexist assholes", or "RASA's". My argument is that there are more of these people out there and willing to vote than anyone wants to admit.
The Democrats don't want to acknowledge that there are RASA's in their midst, but there are. They are everywhere. And people who normally vote Democrat, but are also RASA's will, at best, not vote, and, at worst, vote against the Democratic nominee because they are so scared of a black or female president.
The Republicans don't want to admit to having RASA's, either, but their RASA's don't count in this discussion, because they were going to vote Republican anyway.
Then there are the so called "swing voters". People who, for some reason, don't pay attention to what either party is doing to the country and base their vote on what they had for breakfast on voting day. Guess what? They have RASA's in their midst, too.
But the biggest group of RASA's- the ones that are going to take this election away from the Democrats who seem to be winning in the polls, are the RASA's amongst the group of people who usually don't vote at all.
These are a "special" group of RASA's. They normally DO NOT VOTE ("I ain't going into no school!"). They don't respond to polls, because they are too paranoid ("I AIN'T TELLING NO ONE NOTHING!"). But their hatred and fear runs deep, and is deeply motivating. They will be willing to stay home in droves so they can vote against the woman or the black man, and there are enough of them to tip the scales.
So even though the polls say one thing, the outcome could be very different because of these suddenly politically interested individuals.
I pray to the almighty Rip Taylor that I am wrong.
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