Okay I posted a diary just a while ago noting that a woman Reuters interviewed believes President Obama is a Muslim, but will vote for him because "at least he ain't filthy rich."
Another recommended diary is also covering the same subject.
Now, I saw, in both diaries, a lot of "wtf" comments wondering how this woman could vote for Bush, and then turn around in the age of 9-11 vote for a man she believes is a friggin Muslim!
So...I was born and raised in a small rural town in NC. I know these people. I call some of them friends and family. Let me give you my take...
This is Saint Ronald Reagan. He was a tax-raising buffoon that never balanced a federal budget. His record was horrible. He was a bumbling hollywood know-nothing b-actor that just happened to become the President of this great nation for eight embarrassing years. But people loved him! Fucking LOVED him!
Why? My late wife once told me "People believe the guy they like more. Period." Simple as that. Carter was brilliant. A nuclear fucking physicist! But he was beaten because he couldn't communicate the confidence, likeability, and optimism that Reagan could. I can't prove it, but it feels right.
And I can prove it with more recent examples.
'Member this doucher? Yeah, ol Shrub. So how was it he won a second term. What did he have that these 'average' southern, white voters liked? Sure he was rich, but he was a dumb fucking redneck (that plays well here) that people wanted to have a beer with. People liked him more than Kerry.
With Clinton it was the same thing. These voters didn't give a shit that the right was basically calling him a murderer and an adulterer! He was "Bubba." An everyman. He could connect with people on that gut level.
Which brings me to Obama. Okay, So I was talking with a distant cousin of mine at a family reunion. We talked health, wealth, weather, and politics. I told him straight out I was voting for Obama. This is a pretty racist dude, okay. He drops the n-word and thinks nothing about it, knowing I detest it. So it shocked me to my core when said cousin nodded.
"Yeah...I s'pose I'll vote for the n----- too. Goddamn, never thought I would, but...shit that old boy's got somethin, ain't he?"
So it should come as no surprise then that Obama will get a better share of white rural voters than Romney anticipated. After all, people like him. And Romney:
So...woman who is racist thinking Obama is a Muslim but will vote for him anyway, saying, "At least he ain't filthy rich."
You guys get it yet?