Ironically, the sector of American society now poised to keep George Bush in the White House is the one which stands to lose the most from virtually all of his policies – blue-collar men. A full 49 percent of them and 38 percent percent of blue-collar women told a January 2003 Roper poll they would vote for Bush in 2004.
– Arlie Hochschild
I don't normally set out to denigrate the American electorate, but the reality is that the vast majority of the public are, relatively speaking, sheep. Armed with neither the desire to understand issues nor the time and energy to do so even if they wanted, most Americans, when they pay attention at all, get their information from sound bites and Fox News.
Yes, I realize that assessment will sound horribly snooty and superior (just another intellectual claiming the moral high ground...), but I don't believe this assessment is far off the mark. How else do you expect such strong support for Bush from a segment of the population likely to be negatively impacted? Because, the bottom line is that it's al; about image-making. George W. Bush didn't land on a carrier deck in a fighter because he was late for a tee time. His handlers had their eye on their man's 2004 re-election campaign. Here is our President- virile, capable, and in command. Most Americans probably don't remember or much care that Bush dodged combat in Vietnam because of the magic of his last name.
Until Americans of all economic classes begin to seriously consider the impact and the importance of their votes, we will continue to be subjected to the superficial, the misleading, and the simplistic. That, of course, is exactly what the Bush Administration specializes in.
