Re: Spectrum

1

There are a few grad students in my department (school of environmental studies) that describe identify themselves as moderate. While they may be less liberal than their classmates, they're certainly far more so than most folks nationwide.


Posted by: ptm | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 12:39 PM
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1) Where is Mort Sahl when you need him?

2) Clinton & Obama pay millions for that information, and you want it for free?

3) In protest over Obama's condescension, I have dedicated my playlist today to 200 Merle Haggard songs, and all I get is tearbeer. But that's way cool.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 1:21 PM
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When I comment on unfogged, I sometimes refer to myself as a centrist.


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 1:27 PM
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Well, bob, Clinton yesterday was knocking back (no really) shots (ok, shot) of Chivas with an Old Style back at a bar in IN yesterday. So she is totally down with the gente.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 1:30 PM
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5

Wyoming Anarcho-Syndicalists for McCain!


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 1:32 PM
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On good days, I describe myself as left-centrist. On bad days I'm an up-against-the-wall-motherfuckerist.


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 1:37 PM
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I identify in New York as a moderate because I often find myself on the (relatively) more conservative side of an issue relative. But in almost any other location in the country I am a hard lefter. So on facebook I split the difference and go with the simple Liberal title.


Posted by: bend | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 2:05 PM
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I identify in New York as a moderate because I often find myself on the (relatively) more conservative side of an issue relative. But in almost any other location in the country I am a hard lefter. So on facebook I split the difference and go with the simple Liberal title.


Posted by: bend | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 2:05 PM
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9

sorry for the double post


Posted by: bend | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 2:06 PM
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10

4,5:This probably belongs down on the "why Obama's condescension will lose him Pennsylvania and then the general" thread, but

a) Merle Haggard endorsed Clinton in 2007
b) Merle Haggard wrote an interacial romance song in the early 60s, but the record companies wouldn't let him record it until the mid-70s

He dreamed of something better, and my mama's faith was strong And us kids were just to young to realize That another class of people put us somewhere just below; One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.

Mama never had the luxuries she wanted
But it wasn't cause my daddy didn't try.
She only wanted things she really needed;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.

I remember daddy praying for a better way of life
But I don't recall a change of any size;
Just a little loss of courage, as their age began to show
And more sadness in my mama's hungry eyes.

It ain't rocket science. Social liberalism, economic populism, and anti-war: a Democrat can win with two out of three, but loses if he wants it all.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 3:17 PM
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11

Well, bob, keep doing what you can to maintain that status quo, you big radical you.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 3:22 PM
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12

Merle also covered Richard & Mimi Farina about the same time he wrote "Okie from Muskogee", and covered some Latino music.

The rural populists ain't impossible monsters, they adored FDR.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 3:29 PM
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12:You may believe Obama will be the agent of economic justice, and I may be uncertain, but it is pretty clear the working-class whites don't trust him. And it ain't racism, but y'all will find plenty of excuses in December.

Obama is getting better, but his heart really isn't in it. It shows.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 3:33 PM
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14

And it ain't racism

Oh, come on, Bob.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 3:39 PM
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14:Is it all, or just most Clinton supporters that make their choice based on racism, John?

I'm outa here.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 3:46 PM
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Bob, bye-bye. Your assertion wasn't supported by anything, and you didn't explain, either, why the white working class would support a Clinton.

There are actual non-racist non-sexist explanations for the patterns we're seeing in the primaries, and they won't necessarily mean much in November against McCain. But white working class people around here are fine with Obama.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:05 PM
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Yes, but the working class people around you are on the white end of the race-chasm-thingy.


Posted by:
heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:13 PM
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18

race-chasm-thingy


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:14 PM
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Fox is trying to have some fun by reading the now infamous Obama quote to PA residents and asking them if they were bitter, but so far folks are like, "Hells yes, I'm bitter!" It's on their website, if you dare.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:17 PM
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20

Heebie is a beer drinking racist with dirty sheets.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:18 PM
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21

Heebie's cat hates Obama.

It's not racism, though. That cat just hates everyone.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:19 PM
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22

The cat hates everyone, but spews particular filth about black people. We got home the other day, and he'd scratched into the paint, "What part of The WHITE House don't you understand?"


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:21 PM
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23

Heebie's cat is Hispanic and, like all Hispanics, hates all blacks. But that's OK.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:22 PM
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24

22: And the funny thing is, that cat's not even white.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:23 PM
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Self-hating Cat.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:26 PM
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26

The cat disprefers the term Hispanic, and considers himself Tex-Mex.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:26 PM
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27

The cat loves pizza, claiming it was a Tex-Mex invention. Heebie doesn't dare disagree.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:28 PM
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28

22: Are you sure the cat was being racist? Maybe he just objects to your dingy walls. Maybe it's *you* who's racist, what with having to read race into a perfectly innocent request that you work that elbow grease, lady.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:30 PM
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29

28: Why do you assume it's heebie's job to clean the walls? Sexist.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:31 PM
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28: I swaddle the cat every day in his Feather Duster Outfit with the sponge footies. If he doesn't get the dust bunnies between the cracks, it's his own damn fault.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:33 PM
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31

29: It's not me making that assumption. It's the cat. If Heebie has raised a sexist cat, it's her own damn fault.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:34 PM
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32

Heebie's a greaser?


Posted by: md 20/400 | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:35 PM
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33

31: I'm shocked to hear you endorse the "icebox mother" hypothesis for why cats develop emotional disorders.


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:35 PM
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34

I am a Pink Lady.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:36 PM
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35

and your cat is Jeff?


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:36 PM
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36

35: No, the cat is "The Captain". There was a bit of a mash-up.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:38 PM
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37

35: Wow. Other people remember that?


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:38 PM
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38

Heebie is an apple?


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:39 PM
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39

"Other people"? were you yourself involved in the creation of Pink Lady and Jeff?


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:41 PM
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40

Other people besides me. I think I was 10. That show was scary.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:43 PM
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41

Heebie is an apple?

Look, I carry my weight where I carry my weight, okay?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:44 PM
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42

No, the cat is "The Captain".

I am Teneille.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:44 PM
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43

40: Racist.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:50 PM
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44

And The Captain still hasn't said a word after all these years. But love, love has kept them together.


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:52 PM
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45

(muskrat love)


Posted by: M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 4:52 PM
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46

That show was scary.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 04-13-08 6:49 PM
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47

If you actually want answers to the questions in this post, Chris Lightfoot actually built a political profiler based on polling data for the UK, and it's still operational thanks to his friends at Mythic Beasts Ltd.

I miss him.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 6:26 AM
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48

re: 47

Ah, yes. I remember that at the time.

According to that 0.3% of the population have views to my political left on the first axis. About 3% to my left on the second.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 8:04 AM
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49

I don't even think of myself as super-lefty, either.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 8:06 AM
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50

I don't even think of myself as super-lefty, either.

It's the old "place in the distribution versus absolute value" thing. People in the 99th percentile of income don't think of themselves as super rich, either, becaust the top 0.0001% are SO MUCH richer in absolute terms.


Posted by: Knecht Ruprecht | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 8:08 AM
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re: 50

I suppose that makes sense, yeah.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 8:10 AM
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52

That is very much a Chris-esque problem; I'm slightly surprised he didn't account for it.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 8:26 AM
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53

Political preference is partly genetic (http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/11/politics.genes/index.html), partly decided by emotions ("Obama's all about change man," "Clinton is good, we need more women in politics to increase equality" etc etc).


Posted by: Anti-globalism | Link to this comment | 04-14-08 12:54 PM
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