Conservatives Unmasked

by: Chris Bowers

Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 12:50


The increasingly virulent tone at McCain-Palin rallies has led to a growing realization within big media that a sizable portion of the Republican base are angry bigots. See The Washington Post, The Politico, and The New York Times for recent reports of this nature. My question is: why did it take so long for these outlets to finally make this realization?

As I have written for three and a half years now, the conservative cultural supremacist message is so not-subtle that non-whites and non-Christians vote for Democrats at collective 3-1 rates. Mass demographic voting patterns of that sort do not take hold unless there is a very clear, long-term message in the most prominent political narratives in our country. In our country, the conservative backlash message has been clear: we are out to stop those freaky different people from taking power in America. Consider the latest ad from Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell:

More in the extended entry.
Chris Bowers :: Conservatives Unmasked
Here is the ad:


Here is a quick summary of the ad:

  • Mitch McConnell isn't a New Yorker, and doesn't have one of their hammy accents
  • Mitch McConnell will protect you from illegal aliens, especially the brown ones
  • Mitch McConnell will protect you from convicted felons, especially the black ones
  • Mitch McConnell will keep the number of black and brown people who vote to a minimum.
  • Mitch McConnell will stop those people who call generals traitors
  • Mitch McConnell will protect you from hippies

Now, none of this is overtly racist, in that it avoids the uses of epithets. However, it is all identity based, and engages in a lot of racial codes. This is the conservative platform, and its messages are not subtle: we will protect you from those people who are different. As I have argued on numerous occasions, most recently here, the message is so not subtle that non-whites and non-Christians vote for Democrats at 3-1 rates.

What I really don't understand is why the McCain campaign and other Republicans think that, after attacking Obama in just this why for several months, that just making those attacks louder and more frequently will somehow work. At this point I'm pretty sure everyone knows that Obama is black. Further, if these attacks were so fruitful to Republicans, then why do they have fewer seats in the House right now than Democrats have had in eighty years, and why are Republicans staring massive at increasingly large deficits in the House, Senate and White House? These attacks don't work anymore because demographic trends indicate the "others" conservatives are attacking are collectively becoming the majority in America. At some point, they are going to have to deal with this fact, and come up with a new message for America rather than "we hate people who are different as much as you do."

What I really find amusing are the conservatives who claim that McCain isn't running on a conservative message. Yeah, right. The identity politics campaign McCain is running is the paradigmatic conservative message. The reason conservatives are starting to grow more visibly angry is because it doesn't work anymore.

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Conservatives Unmasked | 27 comments
Now New & Improved at 8 to 1. (4.00 / 2)
DKos/R2K internals show non-whites voting for Obama over McCain by 88% to 12%.  

PS New Gallup numbers are 51-41 - hurry you might be able to post first in quick hits!

Correction (0.00 / 0)
82% to 11%; I forgot about undecideds.
[ Parent ]
Unfortunately (0.00 / 0)
The MSM helped create this monster by being 'fair & balanced' while preaching hate, (all of them, not just ThatWhichMustNotBeNamed).  

The MSM has spent months giving more than equal time to an increasingly unbalanced and biased campaign and now are unable to understand the monster they have helped create.

In My Opinion: The Third Estate helped create this monster, they bear the responsibility for muzzling it.  

TYPO-- EpiTHETs, not epiTAPHS (0.00 / 0)
Dictionary police.
an epitaph for racial epithets? (0.00 / 0)
   The day that racism is dead, buried, and decomposed is a day that we can all eagerly await.
  I will not hold my breath while waiting for that day to arrive. Though an Obama victory - in a landslide, no less! -would be a nice step in that direction.

1 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV) - "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."/ GOP = Greedy Old Privatizers or Greedy Old Privateers?
[ Parent ]
McCain's last ditch effort (4.00 / 2)
to ignite a cultural war is backfiring.

Ignorant, racist "Joe Sixpack" haters are not who Americans are.

Certainly, there are fringe voters who Sarah Palin's trashy, irresponsible approach appeals to, but those few Americans are not enough to pull out a win for McCain.

John McCain has underestimated the American people. They are not as stupid or racist as he thinks.  

My hope (4.00 / 1)
is that this cult of personality we've seen forming around Palin is the beginning of a full-scale splinter movement that rips the GOP right in half and keeps them out of power for a generation or more.

Montani semper liberi
[ Parent ]
good to call this out (4.00 / 3)
"Now, none of this is overtly racist, in that it avoids the uses of epitaphs."  I think "racist" needs to be reunderstood as "that which promotes the system of racial hierarchy."  it makes it easier to understand why sommething like affirmative action is wholly justified as ANTI-racist, why sarah palin isn't feminist (substitute "gender" for racial), etc.
I've seen it put like this elsewhere: (0.00 / 0)
(and I paraphrase) the conflicts that arise between groups of people are due not to inherent differences between them but to institutionalized imbalances of power.

The only two possible responses to these conflicts are 1) to strengthen the imbalances (keep "them" in their place, the conservative option) or 2) to undo the imbalances (the liberal one).

Montani semper liberi

[ Parent ]
the trouble is that... (0.00 / 0)
once you introduce the enormous numbers of differences (gender, sexuality, race, resources, etc.) i think it's no longer sensible to talk about coherent "groups" at all, but simply people, who are existing on a fluid but hierarchical grid of power that's determined by those differences.  call it foucault + marx :)

but i agree with the cure.  i also think, though, that the variety of possible approaches that one can take communism, socialism, liberal liberalism, anarchism, left libertarianism, etc.) should be not just appreciated but celebrated.

which i guess makes me a liberal :)

[ Parent ]
Or, in other words, (4.00 / 1)
racism = power + prejudice.  Not just out-in-the-open use of epithets.

You owe it to yourself to listen to This American Life's fantastic and common-sense explanation of the economic crisis.
[ Parent ]
But some conservatives STILL don't think he's hitting hard enough (4.00 / 4)
As per the reaction on parts of the right to McCain's failure to mention Ayers at the debate a few nights ago.  And there was this conservative talk radio host (a black guy) in the Wisconsin rally yesterday who said, "I am begging you.  Take it to him!"  

They don't think McCain's been tough ENOUGH.  Some of them are pretty clearly setting the stage for claiming that, even in the event of McCain losing, their identity backlash stuff hasn't worked only because "it's never been tried."  

Idiots Abound (0.00 / 0)
I think the problem is that they listen to Hannity and Limbaugh.  I have been listening to these guys some lately in 5 - 10 minute intervals (that is all I can take).  

The problem is that many of these people actually believe that crap. It is shame that some people are so stupid and controlled.

McCain on the minimum wage

[ Parent ]
the conservative world-view (4.00 / 2)
What I really don't understand is why the McCain campaign and other Republicans think that, after attacking Obama in just this why for several months, that just making those attacks louder and more frequently will somehow work.

Yeah, I've had trouble understanding this, too. It sure doesn't seem like an effective way to attract moderates.

The only thing I can figure is that the whole right-wing apparatus has actually bought into the alternative reality that they've created through the right wing noise machine over these past years. They think the Ayers argument ought to win, despite the desperate tone-deafness as we slide toward Great Depression II, because they actually think it matters more to the average voter. They've been swallowed by the monster they created.

If this is true, then they will have an incredibly deep hole to climb out of if they are to remake the Republican party into a nationally viable entity again. It will require nothing less than a revolution in their collective world-view.

.. (4.00 / 4)
When the only tool you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  Nail won't go in?  You need a bigger hammer.

Unfortunately, it really isn't much more complicated than that.  They've had the same set of unchallenged beliefs for so long that it's simply impossible to fit new ideas into the framework, so it's gotta be forced in.  And really, it isn't about changing minds, it's about bludgeoning the opposition.  They're not trying to persuade.

It worked for a long time, too, so I can understand their reluctance to trying something new.  At the bottom, it's an admission that the country is turning into something they (or their side, at least) can't control anymore, and that's just not something they're prepared to admit or accept.

[ Parent ]
It's as bad as racism (0.00 / 0)
I don't even think it matters whether or not the ads/messages are literally racist or racist dog whistles; for the underlying message  - the Democrat is "different" - is just as insidious.

Saying the other guy is not like you and me appeals to the basest instincts underlying xenophobia, racism and a host of other isms.  We shouldn't get caught up in debating whether the language is racist per se.  The language is morally indefensible whether or not its racist.  

tribalism (4.00 / 2)
Ever read an interview by Mudcat Saunders?  It's some of the most extreme worship of "my people" and disinterest in "other people" that I've ever seen in print.

Tribalism is the catch-all word I've been using, because unlike racism, nationalism, sexism, provincialism, etc, it doesn't specify exactly where the person has drawn their Us vs Other line, just that it has been drawn in a powerful and motivating way.

[ Parent ]
I don't see where (4.00 / 1)
there is any question that this type of thing is racist.  You don't have to be shouting "I hate niggers" to be committing an act of racism.  An ad like this is, in the plain light of day and without an ounce of shame, actively promoting the deeply entrenched, systematic racism that equates "felon" with "black" and straight-facedly advocates for the suppression of minority votes.  

White privilege is being able to look at this ad and think it's kinda maybe racism.  For the people of color who have been systematically oppressed for generations by the type of thinking this ad advocates, I doubt there's much of a question.

You owe it to yourself to listen to This American Life's fantastic and common-sense explanation of the economic crisis.

[ Parent ]
This is a desperate pragmatisn at work, not racism per se (4.00 / 2)
McCain is working with what he's got at his rallies. Like Bill Clinton, he is mortally offended at the idea that he's racist. At this point what we're seeing is the inevitable results of the GOP's selective politics at work. We've known since 2000 that they choose who is allowed into their rallies based on the image they want to convey at the time. This is just what happens after you freeze out all dissent, leaving only the base, the converted. You get no embarrassing questions, but boy do you get racist red necks galore.

Palin is in her natural element. She's a vicious white trash infighter by nature. That's what Alaska is, when all is said and done, the last refuge of the racist, separatist radicals.

McCain is a man who "is being done wrong!' He's owed the Presidency, especially if the case is between him and some smartass boy almost half his age who never fought for his country. But I don't think he's a racist per se. The problem is, what other choice does he have right now, with the approval ratings for the GOP off the scale. He's just trapped by his own rhetoric and his party's excesses.

Newt is racist, DeLay is racist, Rove is racist. McCain is a desperate man.

honestly (0.00 / 0)
what is the use of the phrase "white trash" here?  i wouldn't speech police, but it seems to be the last acceptable racia/class slur on earth.  just not worthwhile.
[ Parent ]
They're frustrated (4.00 / 1)
The reason conservatives are starting to grow more visibly angry is because it doesn't work anymore.

You hit the nail on the head here, a point which I've been surprised none of the other commentators of these recent outbursts have recognized.  The wingers are extremely frustrated that Obama will win.  This is a good sign; they are imploding.

The right, of course, had the same level of frustration towards Clinton - which manifested itself in years of repeating despicable lies and innuendo.  Get ready for at least 4 more years of Limbaugh, Starr, et al, version 2.0.  At least they'll be neutered, lacking congressional majorities.

And unlike Clinton, (0.00 / 0)
Obama will have the netroots at his back. It's going to be different this time around.

Montani semper liberi
[ Parent ]
it IS a good sign for national politics (0.00 / 0)
but it's going to unleash an awful amount of fury.  If the Palin rally was any indication, I think things might start getting ugly, especially if the economy's really bad.  It's honestly the first electoral-party affiliated social movement I've been truly afraid of in my lifetime - not only in terms of what policies they would implement, but what they might do to me in the street.
[ Parent ]
It's all in the study that John Dean revealed: (4.00 / 1)
Nearly a quarter of the American population would be defined as authoritarian and of those 99% identify as conservatives and Republicans. If Republicans are even 45% of Americans and that 25% of all Americans identified as authoritarian are 99% Republicans, well then .25/.45 = 55% of Republicans. No wonder they gravitate to Bush and Cheney and Giuliani and McCain and Nixon.

Most Republicans are authoritarians. They PREFER a police state to a democracy. I am not surprised in the least that McCain and Palin's message resonates with them. In their campaign bubbles, McCain and Palin no doubt feel the energy coming back to them and they feed and heighten it (not caring if it's positive or negative) rather than tempering it to the broader nation. After all, they too are authoritarians who get a rush out of whipping up their audiences and sinking their blind loyalty deeper still.

Help support "CRASHING THE STATES"--a Netroots Film!

Paul Krugman touches on this today, and it's part of a clear pattern (4.00 / 4)
In his blog here he writes about it.

What it came down to was that a significant fraction of the American population, backed by a lot of money and political influence, simply does not consider government by liberals (even very moderate liberals) legitimate. Ronald Reagan was supposed to have settled that once and for all.

While WE know that Clinton and Obama are basically very MODERATE - and not so liberal - these fanatics really believe that Obama is the 2nd coming of Marx - as was Clinton.

We have to figure out a strategy to completely delegitimize these fanatics.

conservatism is not only for racists - it's also for Social Darwinists (0.00 / 0)
   I wish that I could read Krugman's full blog. Your link leads to the Comdey Central website.
  Conservatism often includes other "isms", such as racism, sexism, and nationalism. Those "isms" are politically incorrect and are unpopular. But one very harmful conservatism "ism" is still fairly popular: a belief in an every-man-for-himself, sink-or-swim free market. In other words, in Social Darwinism.
  I have an idea to help deligitimatize Social Darwinism. Conservatives often refuse to believe that any person of good character ever suffers an economic misfortune. Instead, they seem to believe (without any data whatsoever) that about 99% of welfare recipients are willfully lazy commie parasites and/or are crookedly cheating the system.
  Maybe Democrats can sponsor a bi-partisan review of social programs, and give it a title like "welfare reform". (Who says that only the right can use Orwellian labels?) My guess is that any objective measure of needy people and the social programs that help them will find that for every one bad (lazy or crooked) person who gets benefits wrongly, there are five or ten people who are suffering from serious unmet needs and who are currently receiving little or no help from the government.
  There are a few Ebineezer Scrooge types who will openly say that the Oliver Twists and Tiny Tims of America should just be left alone to die of starvation. But most of the conservatives who rail against social programs do so because they belive in the stereotype of lazy, crooked welfare recipients. A bipartisan review of social programs that is carried out in an honest and transparent manner might work wonders.
*************************
Related thoughts:  
   This may be a transformational election, in several ways.
(1) A free-market crisis that is first caused by Republican deregulation and then solved by goverment regulations created by Democrats might cause people to decide that they prefer the "fair market" to the "free market".
(2) It is hard to create or destroy a large social program that benefits millions of voters. Republicans controlled the White House and congress, and when they tried to privatize Social Security, they failed. It will be hard for us to create a universal health care program, but if we can do so, it will also be hard for the Republicans to abolish it.
(3) Changing the culture and conventional wisdom of America will not be done easily or overnight. Obama and Democrats in Congress can create programs and pass laws. But we must expect the right to do what they always do: smear and spin. We must be ready to write letters to the paper, make phone calls, answer polls, and basically send out the message that we, the American people, are happy with the change that has come to Washington.
    Ronald Reagan famously said that government is not the solution, it is the problem. That bit of antigovernment right-wing propaganda has been allowed to sit unchallenged in the public mind for too long. After the Democrats take over Washington, we the grassroots need to take over the culture.

1 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV) - "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."/ GOP = Greedy Old Privatizers or Greedy Old Privateers?
[ Parent ]
Getting this stuff out there in the mainstream media (4.00 / 4)
IS doing a lot to disempower these nuts. Your "average American" may have some racist views, but he's uncomfortable with this level of in your face crap. The more times we get an acknowledgment of this from the media, the more good it will do.

There will always be SOME money behind this sort of nationalism because there are a few wealthy people who feel this way. A lot more wealthy people are casual racists. BUT the GOP doesn't like to be tarred with this brush, and as a whole neither do the large contributors. The party as a whole will swing away from this, especially if their faces are rubbed in it.

These folks are dangerous, but they're also a small minority. Every time we see them highlighted, it gains votes for Obama. Casual racism is much more insidious. The signs with Obama in a turban for instance, those work their way into the "mind" of average voters, especially if Obama fails to challenge them.

As much as I dislike the Roman Church, does anybody really think that they will willingly support this racism? They may try to be "neutral", but if McCain does nothing to stop this stuff, sooner or later the church will have to address the issue of whether institutional racism is a bigger problem that their social agenda.

If we can keep these nuts spotlighted, it will only work for us.

Conservatives Unmasked | 27 comments
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