Magic Poriferan
^He pronks, too!
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Messages
- 14,081
- MBTI Type
- Yin
- Enneagram
- One
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/sp
A recurring exchange for the duration of Obama's presidency has been for a Democrat to remark on how insanely Republicans hate Obama, and then for a Republican to reply that it's no different from how Democrats hated Bush. I have always suspected that the comparison isn't accurate, but it's been difficult to put my finger on why. Now, I think they distinction may have come into focus.
From 2000 to 2008 Republicans hypocritically accused Democrats of being divisive, antagonistic, and black and white (which is historically typical from supporters of a war starting president). Even if they were hypocrites, I think they were right. I think that was sort of how Democrats felt. There was a popular image online of the USA being chopped into two nations, The United States of Canada and Jesusland. This was representative of the Democratic sentiment. They felt they were stuck in a country populated 50% or more with people who possessed diseased judgment and were impossible to work with.
How do I think the Republican sentiment toward Obama is different? The peculiar, defining thing I've noticed about how the even the relatively mainstream conservative pundits, politicians, and casual rabble-rousers have criticized Obama is that they always seem confident that they speak for everyone. They think they speak for all of America. Obama's failure as a president and moral decay as a person are self-evident truths, and it's unfathomable that more than 50% of the population would consider voting for him. Hell, these people tend to speak as thought Obama's supporters range from 0 to 10 % of the population. Some small cluster of crazed radicals or shady behind the scenes operatives are supporting Obama against the bread and butter people of America. It's really very different from the Democratic conception of battling for the slightest margin of victory over an embarrassing horde of compatriots.
It makes me wonder how these people will respond to Obama winning. It's no guarantee of course. I'd give Obama somewhere around a 70% chance of winning. It's still probable, and I'm trying to figure what to anticipate from the conservative intelligentsia in this event. Is there any chance that the Republican party would experience some recrimination and reflect on itself, or is a force already so cognitively biased incapable of responding with anything but greater zeal?
From 2000 to 2008 Republicans hypocritically accused Democrats of being divisive, antagonistic, and black and white (which is historically typical from supporters of a war starting president). Even if they were hypocrites, I think they were right. I think that was sort of how Democrats felt. There was a popular image online of the USA being chopped into two nations, The United States of Canada and Jesusland. This was representative of the Democratic sentiment. They felt they were stuck in a country populated 50% or more with people who possessed diseased judgment and were impossible to work with.
How do I think the Republican sentiment toward Obama is different? The peculiar, defining thing I've noticed about how the even the relatively mainstream conservative pundits, politicians, and casual rabble-rousers have criticized Obama is that they always seem confident that they speak for everyone. They think they speak for all of America. Obama's failure as a president and moral decay as a person are self-evident truths, and it's unfathomable that more than 50% of the population would consider voting for him. Hell, these people tend to speak as thought Obama's supporters range from 0 to 10 % of the population. Some small cluster of crazed radicals or shady behind the scenes operatives are supporting Obama against the bread and butter people of America. It's really very different from the Democratic conception of battling for the slightest margin of victory over an embarrassing horde of compatriots.
It makes me wonder how these people will respond to Obama winning. It's no guarantee of course. I'd give Obama somewhere around a 70% chance of winning. It's still probable, and I'm trying to figure what to anticipate from the conservative intelligentsia in this event. Is there any chance that the Republican party would experience some recrimination and reflect on itself, or is a force already so cognitively biased incapable of responding with anything but greater zeal?
