You think "Joe Sixpack" is tired of being called "Joe Sixpack?"

[EffieBlack]

You think he/she is also sick of being treated like a bunch of idiots?

For some reason, we have gotten caught in this notion that people - both "regular," i.e., white people, and minorities - dislike, distrust and don't "connect" with anyone who either was not born working class or is of a different race than they are.

So we get treated to insulting political analysis such as "Hillary Clinton doesn't connect to regular people," and "Barack Obama isn't black enough," etc. This results in embarassing spectacles such as Hillary Clinton knocking back the brewskis in the neighborhood bar and Barack Obama putting on bowling shoes and bowling a few frames (badly) to look like they belong.

Interestingly, this attitude tends to result in the candidates trying harder to prove that they're part of the "white" crowd, while there has been little pressure for either of them to prove how well they connect with black folk, who are now being treated as invisible and irrelevant in this campaign.

In Obama's case, I believe this is partly because that question has already been asked and answered - by black folks themselves, the same people whom the press proclaimed earlier this year would not vote for him because he wasn't black enough for them. It also has something to do with the fact that, while it's considered a GOOD thing for a candidate to prove how "down with the common white folk" they are, it would be the kiss of death for a black candidate to look like they're trying to hard to prove how "down with the brothers" he is. Hell, some white folks are scared to death of Barack Obama, one of the most laid back, assimilated black men on earth - imagine how freaked out they'd be if he suddenly started engaging in the behavior necessary to prove that he is "keeping it real," a concept that seems usually to apply only to successful black men.

But not this time. Unfortunately, we haven't been spared the corollary sideshow of poor Hillary Clinton doing her best to "keep it real" by trying to prove that SHE is really just one of the girls from the old neighborhood. It's sad, really, not to mention woefully disingenuous. Does anyone think that Hillary Clinton, a former First Lady and current member of the most exclusive club in Washington REALLY hangs around in bars drinking with the fellas or that Barack Obama

My experience in this regard - and I do have quite a bit of it - is that most people of whatever class or race are quite good at connecting with people who don't come from their background. They also don't generally resent people who do come from their background but who moved out and up into a, for lack of better word, higher class. In fact, they appreciate seeing someone like them who "made it" and find that it gives them and their children hope that they, too, can eventually do the same.

When we sneer at people with less money or less education or fewer connections by insisting that they are too bigoted or ignorant or uncouth to graps complex concepts or to understand what is in their own political best interests ("Sure, the gas tax holiday is a gimmick that would be an economic debacle, but it sure is good politics for Hillary Clinton because these yahoos down are fascinated by the shiny 30 cents a day they'd get and Obama sounds elitist when he says so, Jim") or that they are so backward that they think that the only person qualified to be president of the United States is someone who seems to have had the same limitations that have held them back, we do a disservice to us all.

I'm not a white working class person - and never will be, so I guess, according to the Pat Buchanan standards for political success, I'll never get to be president - but I've lived with, grown up with and was even raised by plenty of them and believe that folks from that demographic must be sick and tired of being told how limited and stupid they are by people sitting on their well-fed, sedentary butts in comfy tv studios.

I give them more credit than that.

[BlooInBloo]

1. I sneer at them based upon what they do, not who they are....

... They stop acting like jackasses, I stop sneering. It's that easy.

[EffieBlack]

2. Who is "they?"

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. I prefer "johan 750 ml"

[TragedyandHope]

4. Yes, people are tired of "Sixpack" and "Lunch bucket"

and their votes have shown that.

[DAGDA56]

5. I hate being called "Charlie Chardonnay" all the time...

...so I just wave my cricket bat and threaten them with expulsion from the club. :7 (edit to spell the damn wine correctly)

[davsand]

6. Hell, after the last 8 years it is probably "Joe CASE."

Given the awful mess we have right now I am amazed that the entire nation isn't drunk, stoned or medicated. For sure we are all manifesting a lot of anger--and you don't have to look too far here at DU to see it in action--let alone in the general population.

I agree with you, EffieBlack, that our pols have seriously dumbed down the electoral process from where it used to be. I honestly think, however, that the media has done a lot to encourage the downward spiral.

I dunno how old you are, but I actually remember when they held Presidential Primary debates on specific subjects like "Foreign Policy" and "Domestic Issues." I wonder sometimes why we ever got away from that. IF we are lucky we might see that kind of thing in a General Election (if ABC sponsors it, however, you can probably expect the questions to be about Brangelina, Brittany and other gossip.)



Laura

[begin_within]

7. Thanks to downsizing it's only Joe 5.5pack

[Jack Bone]

8. After 8 yrs of Who-Knew? Economics....I've become..

Joe Night Train

:toast:

[Deja Q]

9. I'm Joseph Wineglass.

:D

[madrchsod]

10. i hate being called "joe bombay"

but at least i`m not called "joe latte' effete liberal".....

opps

[SoFlaJet]

11. Latte Liberal here

who like espresso

[Deja Q]

14. Actually, I prefer jagermeister

:9

[dana_b]

12. good post. I think most people

are tired of being pigeon holed. "Joe Sixpack", "Latte liberal", etc. It's a sign of our culture and how we put people into little groups that might be different from ourselves. Maybe it makes it easier for us to feel better about ourselves to think that those who are different are less intelligent, less knowing, too out of touch or possibly the cause of our problems. It's easier to blame someone else rather than to take responsibility.

"He's too stupid to understand because he didn't go to college" or "she's too out of touch because she's wealthy" are just excuses. We are all capable of understanding each other, it's just whether or not we want to do so.

[provis99]

13. Joe Six-pack sounds so hoighty-toighty

I'll move up to the level of Joe Sixpack once I get off the Thunderbird wine and Colt .45 malt liquor. Budweiser is just too elitist for me right now.

[TBF]

15. Really good points, Effie.

I think it has been hard on the party leaders as well. Do you shut down the campaign and declare a winner when the race is so close (and risk alienating the other half of the voters).

I'm not a Hillary fan, and was very opposed to the "unity ticket", but I'm starting to think maybe it's not a bad idea after all. At least it could pull people together.

All we have now is a completely fractured electorate that knows we MUST have change, but is fighting over the details while John McCain sits back with his feet up laughing his ass off.

Thank you for your thought-provoking post.