Matthew Yglesias » Al-Jazeera on Ohio Voters

Oct 15th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Al-Jazeera on Ohio Voters

It’s interesting that none of America’s cable news channels seem interested in exploring this kind of story:

That’s via Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Comments
37

37 Responses to “Al-Jazeera on Ohio Voters”

ed Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Ah, Republicans and their cherished Small Town Values. Charming.

And make no mistake, that’s what the modern Republican party is all about. That’s what Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, National Review, and all the rest since Nixon have brought us.
Rob Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Well Al-Jazeera doesn’t have to comfort its core consumers who happen to be older and white.
Jim Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I’d like to see Schieffer play this and ask McCain to comment on it.

I’d also like to be ten years younger and a couple inches taller.
Sarah Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I always wonder when they show stuff like this on TV. How random is it really? Do reporters just happen to find people like this walking around on the street of Ohio? Or do they have some prior information, e.g. this particular area or even these specific people would be more likely to say whatever it is we want to show.

If it is really random, that’s kind of scary. It’s Ohio! I wouldn’t be that surprised if we’re talking south of the Maxon Dixon line, but Ohio! Really? You can find people who says things like this randomly on the streets?
Sarah Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Sorry, that was obviously at a McCain rally. Silly me.
Rob Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Sarah-

It isn’t random, its a McCain rally. Now true they may have edited out the sane McCain supporters who aren’t supporting Obama because Bill Ayers obviously wrote Obama’a book…
CN Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I was really struck by woman who says: “I don’t like the fact that [Obama] thinks white people are trash. Because we’re not.

If we have reached the point where ignorant white people are defending their own worth, we have truly made progress.
Professor Booty Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
What are you, some kinda Muslim Jew terrorist?

But seriously, didn’t that first young guy, holding his kid, remind you of the Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood? “She’s filled with the Holy Spirit!”
Jim Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Rob: That “Ayers wrote his books” thing started at the intellectual apex of Bush-McCain conservatism, the National Review Online. Takes a couple days to filter down to people aren’t smart enough to camouflage their racism in front of camaras.
MG Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I wouldn’t be that surprised if we’re talking south of the Maxon Dixon line, but Ohio! Really?

Ohio is three regions in one — the rust belt, the midwest, and the South (which starts, in my experience, just south of Columbus).
molly Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Rachel Maddow has been talking about some of this.

Also, holy smokes, that kid with the baby looks JUST like the crazy religious guy in There Will Be Blood!
ElBLot Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Great post Matt. AJ does a lot of great work but I almost never see it unless someone brings it to my attention.

Scenes like this seriously make me want to get it over with and break up the country – and I am sure there are plenty of videos circulating in right-wing circles that would make them feel the same way.
rea Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I wouldn’t be that surprised if we’re talking south of the Maxon Dixon line, but Ohio! Really?

A goodly part of Ohio is south of the Mason-Dixon Line (which is the Maryland-Pennsylvania border)
matt Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
CN, I heard her say “I don’t like the fact that [Obama] thinks us white people are trash.” This is of course true. US white people are trash.
JonF Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Re: A goodly part of Ohio is south of the Mason-Dixon Line (which is the Maryland-Pennsylvania border)

Just about everything south of I-70, except the southern half of Columbus, might as well be south of I-40. The guy who wrote The Nine Nations Of North America was wrong on this much: southern Ohio is indeed part of Dixie. It should be its own state, with Cincinnati as the capital– Olowo maybe?

That said, there are a lot of Republicans in the rural parts of northern Ohio too, but they tend to be old-fashioned Eisenhower (or at least Taft) Republicans.

Re: This is of course true. US white people are trash.

A bit overly broad, but as my step-mother said (note: we are white) “Nobody does trash as well as white people do trash”.
fostert Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Anyone wonder why I moved away from Texas? Granted, Texans are better than the idiots in this video, but not by much, sadly. I just don’t understand this crap. When I look at another human being, I just see another human being. A person that has to deal with the same issues that I have to deal with. I see them as equals. But these people see a person with a different skin color and get freaked out. It’s like black people are some different kind of animal. But it get’s even worse. These people will treat their dog better than they’d treat a black person. It makes me ashamed to be the same species as them. But I still love them because I have to. They’re humans. I just wish they’d act like it.
fostert Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
And you know what’s really scary? The idea that every person is equal is considered ‘elitist’. Go figure.
alex Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Did the interviewer identify himself to the interviewees as working for al-Jazeera? I don’t know the protocol for these sorts of interviews, but it strikes me that the yahoos in that video probably think al-Jazeera is the propaganda arm of Al Qaeda.
Gully Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
South-east Ohio may be “Southern” but there is nothing “South” about Cincinnati. It may have its bigots but it is much more white color than Cleveland or Columbus and doesn’t have anything like the southern mindset you fins in Kentucky.
Jonf Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Re: It may have its bigots but it is much more white color than Cleveland or Columbus and doesn’t have anything like the southern mindset you fins in Kentucky

Two words: Proposition 3.
grits Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
People with good sense try to avoid tv cameras and news directors aim for the most sensational or embarrassing cuts for entertainment value. The result is you get a deliberately skewed view of any group. How many smart people show up among The Tonight Show’s jaywalkers? Do you honestly think that is because he never encounters any?

Oh, and for those of you trying to pawn this bunch of yankee racists off on the South, your bigotry is showing. IIRC, both Ulysses S. Grant and W. T. Sherman were from Ohio and Kentucky was not a Confederate state.
Nylund Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Where did that, “Obama thinks white people are trash,” comment come from?! I hadn’t heard that bit of crazy yet.

And, I wonder if she knows Obama’s mom was white and he was mostly raised by his white grandparents. I just don’t understand how people can be involved enough in politics to go to major rallies and STILL not know basic facts about the candidate.
lanceC Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Maybe I’m missing something. Why would we want to see more of this on cable? Unfortunately, some of my own family members are voting for Mccain. Why? Because of skin tone. And there is no reasoning with them. I believe the more they and others see of this hate, the more they think it’s acceptable behavior. And it might encourage others to act likewise. However,threats by the unhinged, should be shown (on the tube) along with the implication that they will not be tolerated and could lead to a visit by authorities.
JonF Says:
October 15th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Re: Kentucky was not a Confederate state.

According to the government of the CSA both Kentucky and Missouri were Confederate states; they even sent delegations to the Condederate Congress. And they account for the fact that the flag of the CSA had 13 stars, not 11. Of course at the same time there were also senators and Congressmen from these states in the Union Congress, and their “secession” was never recognized even to the extent that the other CSA states was (majorities in both states favored staying in the Union– though that was true in Tennessee and, arguably, Texas too).
Keith M Ellis Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 12:16 am
“Texans are better than the idiots in this video, but not by much…”

That’s the second time in two days I’ve seen a comment like this. It’s puzzling because it’s not true except in the most literal, unintended sense (the average of all Texans versus the average of those particular Ohioans interviewed).

I lived in Texas in four different cities for a total of about thirteen years and it’s certainly more blatantly racist than the US average. Average Texans are closer to those in the video than are average Ohioans; and the average Texan blatant racist is at least as bad as those in the video, and in my opinion, worse

That said, my mother has lived in Kansas City for the last fourteen years and she belives the racism in western/southern Missouri is much worse than what she experienced in Amarillo, where she lived the previous twelve years. And my experience of Amarillo was that it was the most racist city I’ve lived in. The other three in Texas are Lubbock, Dallas, and Austin. Austin was, by far, the most liberal; but it’s very segregated and there’s a surprising amount of paternalist racism on the left.

I think that wherever you find the demographic in this video, you’ll find similar levels of racism. There are significant numbers of rural, low-education, religious whites in almost every state in the US such that nowhere is immune from their influence.
Aeneas Taint Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I live in Texas. To be fair… I am always happy to meet non-Republicans, but a pretty shocking number that I know and meet end up being crazies of the 9/11 truth ilk. Obviously, the people in the video are idiots, and they make up a non-substantial portion of the Republican electorate. But what percentage of Democrat voters do we think are really rational decision-makers? Thirty percent?
McGruff Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Well, I’m from St. Clairsville, which is where this was shot.

Yes, there are some nuts of various sorts around here; and you saw some of the redneck variety being interviewed. However, the anti-McCain guy who said he felt threatened was full of it. There is nothing of the sort going around here. Joe Biden also just showed up here, and Hillary was here during the primaries.

St. Clairsville is directly on 1-70 about 15 miles west of the Ohio River and Wheeling, WV.
Luke Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Here’s the irony of bittergate.

The people in these videos are from micropolitan regions in SE Ohio. These cities were driven by steel and/or coal, and grew steadily from the 30s until 1970. When Nixon ended the Bretton Woods era, coal left; when NAFTA passed, steel left.

Now there are no jobs, and it’s entirely the fault of Republican policies. The only mobilizing hope comes from religious shysters and jingoist zealots, both of whom prey on the fact that SE Ohio was betrayed by federal policy.

These people ARE bitter that they’ve been betrayed. That bitterness is exploited by the party that betrayed them. These people need to understand that Republican economic policy has done this to them, or else they need to move the fuck away from SE Ohio.
McGruff Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
These people need to understand that Republican economic policy has done this to them, or else they need to move the fuck away from SE Ohio.

Not true.

In fact, Howard Metzenbaum opposed coal; while Clinton approved NAFTA. Acid rain controls, supported by the Eastern elite, did in the coal industry. These people are well aware that Democratic policies have been useless at best and often harmful to them.

It is one thing to talk about economic progress; it is another to deliver. If the Democrats focus on social issues while failing to deliver the bacon, then their current political success will be short-lived.
gonzo Says:
October 16th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
America! Wake up … I am more in awe at how so many people do not believe this kind of thinking continues to define, for better or worse, Americans … it goes on … in states like Ohio,Penn. WI. Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and in every state in the Union … it’s a combination called lack of education and human nature … still evolving to hopefully a better form.
Stephanie Says:
October 18th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
It just goes to show who’s hands the country’s fate is really in. Ignorant racists. If it isn’t bad enough in this interview see Howard Stern interview in Harlem. It’s a complete nightmare. This country is screwed!
John Says:
October 19th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
These people are why other countries laugh and make fun of us.
Go to Europe, tell people you’re Canadian and ask their opinion of Americans.
osisbs Says:
November 7th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Americans want to make English the official language and if you can’t speak it, they hate you. Also, if you speak it very well they hate you. Go figure.
cialis Says:
March 1st, 2009 at 10:50 pm
cialis
It is the coolest site,keep so!
tramadol Says:
March 17th, 2009 at 3:33 am
Great site. Good info
tramadol
tramadol Says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:32 am
tramadol
Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.
mark Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Excellent site, It was pleasant to me.
viagra

Matt Yglesias

Al-Jazeera on Ohio Voters

37 Responses to “Al-Jazeera on Ohio Voters”

Blogroll