Who are novelists voting for? (Slate) (4 for Bush, 24 for Kerry)

[Khephra]

Slate asked a variety of prominent American novelists, ranging from Edwidge Danticat to John Updike, for a frank response to the following question: Which presidential candidate are you voting for, and why? Thirty-one novelists participated, with four for Bush, 24 for Kerry, and three in a category of their own. Authors cited a range of reasons, from a vote for Kerry "because I have a brain and so does he" (Amy Tan), to a vote for Bush because "we're at war, and electing a president who is committed to losing it seems to be the most foolish thing we could do" (Orson Scott Card). Here are their answers.

http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2107890&

Snip:

(Kef's Comment: Card has been praising the Right for decades! What's this crap about him being a Democrat?!?)

Orson Scott Card

I'm a Democrat voting for Bush, even though on economic issues, from taxes to government regulation, I'm not happy with the Republican positions. But we're at war, and electing a president who is committed to losing it seems to be the most foolish thing we could do. Personal honesty is also important to me, and Kerry is obviously not in the running on that point, given that he can't keep track of the facts in his own autobiography.

[murielm99]

1. Huh?

He is one of the most right-wing homophobic guys out there!

I will never, never read another of his books. He is a kook.

I won't turn down his vote, though -- if he really does vote for Democrats sometimes. I don't believe a word of it, though.

[drhilarius]

2. I think I'll take the opinion...

of Joyce Carol Oates and John Updike over the man who wrote "Shadow Puppets". I know that's an elitist comment, and I don't care.

[funnymanpants]

6. Ditto

You forgot Jane Smiley, who, along with Updike, is a Pulizer winner. (Oates was runner up.)

Three of the four who are voting for Bush are fantasy writers.

Ferrigno, a Bush supporter, writes:

"Most novelists live in their imagination, which is a fine place to be until the bad guys come knock knock knocking."

He then goes on to do some gratituous UN bashing.

Well, who lives in the world of their imagination--those who claim WMD exist and that the Iraqis support us, that democracy is being established, or Ferrigno? On another note, novelists *don't* live exclusively in their imaginations. They must have their fingers on the pulse of life and truth, which obviously Ferrigno doesn't.

As others pointed out, Card is a complete Kook who claims we are winning the war in Iraq, the recession started under Clinton, and Kerry's campaign is undermining the so-called war on terror.

Notice how specifice the pro-Kerry supporters are as opposed to the pro-Bush supporters, who rely on rhetoric. Specifics are often a good way to determine who is thinking more clearly.

[President Jesus]

3. authors' campaign contributions

click names
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/hof.php?#AUTHORS

[CityHall]

4. Card is a Mormon

That's all you need to know about that. They're the American Taliban. No coincidence that Utah has the highest margin for Bush of any state.

[IrateCitizen]

5. My favorite answer of them all...

Lorrie Moore

Are there really any novelists voting for Bush? I am tempted, since my vote is almost always bad luck, its recipients almost always losing.


And a close second...

Richard Dooling

More than any other election in recent memory, this one reminds me of Henry Adams' observation that politics is the systematic organization of hatreds.

The left-wing political road rage directed at George W. Bush for being dumb and lying about the war reminds me of nothing so much as the right-wing obsessive invective directed at Bill Clinton for being smart and lying about sex. Rush Limbaugh versus Michael Moore, and let the man nursing the most unrequited rage win. The DRAMA and spectacle of the election will be fascinating to watch, but novelists, even more than actors, should be political agnostics.