Iowa-bashing snobs and sore losers
As we wait for election results to come in tonight, enjoy my reflections on the snobs and sore losers exposed by the Iowa caucus process.
Update: Results thread is here. Gingrich was true to sore-loser form, blaming super PACS and negative ads for his 4th place finish.
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Iowa-bashing snobs and sore losers
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2012
The Iowa caucuses may not have much predictive value, but they did a wonderful job of unmasking both elitist whingers on the Left and incompetent whiners on the Right.
As they do every presidential election cycle, progressives of pallor wore their indelible disdain for middle America on their sleeves. Pale-faced University of Iowa journalism professor Stephen Bloom launched a 6,000-word jeremiad, littered with factual errors, against his home state’s residents. The abridged version: Raaaaaaaacists! Hicks! Christians! Argggh!
In the safe harbors of The Atlantic just a few weeks before Tuesday’s electoral event, Bloom sneered: “Those who stay in rural Iowa are often the elderly waiting to die.” The rest are “[a]n assortment of waste-toids and meth addicts with pale skin and rotted teeth or those who quixotically believe, like Little Orphan Annie, that the sun will come out tomorrow.” One of the poison-tongued prof’s own former journalism students, Kirsten Scharnberg Hampton, took him to task for citing faulty demographic statistics, derisively stereotyping hunters, and falsely accusing a local newspaper of “splashing” the headline “He Is Risen” across its front page (it was a small, boxed quotation marking Easter Sunday).
But the damage was done; the bait dangled. And at the overwhelmingly white NBC Nightly News on Sunday, Andrea Mitchell swallowed the Iowa-bashing chum whole – then dutifully regurgitated the attack on the state as “Too white, too evangelical, too rural.” She was quick to slip in a “critics say” disclaimer, of course. But let’s not kid ourselves about the network’s prejudices.
This is the same news organization that attempted to conduct Islamophobia stings at NASCAR races to expose how racist racing fans supposedly were; whose Meet the Press host David Gregory smeared GOP leaders as “Grand Wizards” in November; and whose execs were forced to apology last month for MSNBC goons who falsely linked GOP candidate Mitt Romney to the Ku Klux Klan.
One local Hawkeye State veteran journalist, David Yepsen, tried to correct the coastal myth of the redneck- hick-outlier Iowa voter by politely pointing out Barack Obama’s triumph in the 2008 Democratic caucuses at the hands of yes, mostly white voters. Moreover, over the last four presidential election seasons, the Iowa popular vote has “closely tracked national preferences.”
Census statistics show that the majority of Iowans are urban, not rural; the median age is 38 (nationally, it’s 36.7); and out of a population of 3 million people statewide, some 90,000 are farming families. But snobs and demagogues on both sides of the aisle eschewed the facts and indulged in racial and class warfare instead. The Hispanic News website issued a clarion call: “In Diverse & Urban Nation, Time to Kick Iowa White, Racist Farmers to Curb.” GOP strategist Roger Stone, who spearheaded the bungled bid to turn statist, pro-bailout, eminent-domain abuser Donald Trump into a Tea Party/GOP “Mr. Everyman” candidate, also jumped ugly. He railed against Iowans as a “bunch [of] hayseeds” who are “not representative of America today.”
More Iowa sins according to Stone: “The food is awful, the people are stout and a lot of them smoke.”
If only a utopian state of non-smoking, vegetarian supermodels and Apprentice reality-show contestants had first-in-the-nation status, imagine how much better off we’d all be.
Joking aside, I’d have no problem with a rotating, kick-off caucus slot. But intermingled with the bi-coastal bigotry against Iowa is the distinct odor of sore-loser-dom. Split voters in Iowa simply reflected the wider discontent among grass-roots conservatives and Tea Party activists with the current Pageant of the Imperfects.
Besides, Iowa caucus critics have had years to change the status quo. Like some of Tuesday’s big losers, the whingers and whiners who complain about the process have failed to get their act together. All talk, no follow-through.
Take Newt Gingrich. The vaunted intellectual field marshal of the GOP whose campaign bubble quickly burst under the weight of his own gross incompetence, blamed his fall on money, staff, a “failed system,” negative ads, and the electorate’s inability to appreciate “big ideas.”
But if you can’t convert a surge into an electoral win, if you can’t effectively rebut opponents’ charges without resorting to tears and tantrums, and — most damaging for Gingrich — if you can’t put people on the ground in places like Iowa and Virginia who can deliver votes and signatures when it counts, how can you win a general election? Frankly, to use a favorite Gingrich verbal crutch, the fault lies in just one place: on Gingrich’s shoulders.
When I was a kid, we took something called the Iowa Test of Basic Skills – a nationally standardized test of minimum competence in core subjects. The Iowa Caucuses serve a similar purpose. When campaigns fail to meet the most elementary requirements of organizational politics, don’t blame the messengers. Blame the test-takers.
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Just Karl at Hot Air is on a similar wavelength: Don’t blame Iowa for this mess.
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Just remember…when Iowa has to pick a Democratic candidate, the people are salt-of-the-earth fokes, hanging out in coffee shops all day.
When it has to pick a Republican candidate, then they’re Bible-thumpin’ hix who burn crosses and wear white hoods for fun.
The Children of the Corn had their say. Now it’s time for the Snowmen of NH.
FIFY. In the minds of most democrats, that description fits just about anyone from any state supporting Republican candidates. Of course when you through in “Bible thumpin” and “hicks” together, adding “ignorant” is probably redundant.
Getting tired of the same violent victim class rhetoric, fed and nurtured by the elite commissars of the Left.
Read Robert Bork’s 1996 book Slouching Towards Gommorah, he perfectly skewers the Left and their plans for America. Fantasic primer on how Marxism has taken over America and its plans for her future. Needless to say it gets poor reviews from the Vichy Establisment.
I used to pay attention to the Iowa Caucus event, but not any more. When I learned that anyone from any Party can change their registration temporarily to Republican and vote in the horse race, I discarded the contest as easily rigged.
Until Iowa corrects that issue, I cannot take their Caucus seriously. I will feel the same way about any other state that allows the same fiasco. And It’s going to happen in many Primary races as well, with only Obama running.
On to New Hampshire, then the rest of the Primaries, to see how things shake out. We are a long way from being done with this process.
These are the same elitists that worked aggressively to sabotage Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign in 2008. They are either double agents, evil, stupid, or some combination thereof. Palin exposed them in her own book as well. What passes for “Republican” in the GOP halls of power is anything but…. The only solution is to weed them all out of the Party and force them to return to the Democrat fold.
I often think it better to have candidates campaign throughout the nation with engagements before the public and party convention delegates, then have them go at it for the convention week and have the candidateds deal with party delegates be those who select the candidate. Any nore the caucus and primary system can be, and often is rigged with late states having little or no influence on who ultimately is the winner.
Considering there is no competition for Obama, why wouldn’t Dems switch even for closed primaries?
On January 04, 2012 at 07:39 am, stillontheroad said:
Same here. I would like nothing more than to see Barky and the evil Queen Sheneequa Tamale on the curb, and their supporters wondering what hit them.
My take from the caucus was that the media sucks!
No bigotry can match Leftwing bigotry.
Newt carried his baggage about as far as possible, aided by the air hissing out of the Bachman, Perry and Cain balloons. Finally, with no tailwind, the weight of it all dragged him down. He can blame Romney, or whatever, but who believes that the attacks on Newt would be less aggressive in the general election than in this primary? Either you have an effective response, or not. Iowa voters clearly thought not.
Virginia has no Party registration for voters. You don’t even have to switch parties to crash the other parties’ primary.
I’m with Huckabee on this one:
http://okhenderson.com/2012/01/03/huckabee-rs-more-interested-in-defeating-obama-than-in-rebuilding-usa-audio/
moving along…
Iowa did not vote republican in the last presidential election. In this process, they should be slated after those states that did their job and voted republican. Reward the states that are successful and the others go to the end of the line.
And I thought all the inbred, gun totin’, cigarette smoking, waste of air, hicks were in the south. Can’t wait to see what they say about usins’ in the SC primary.
Most the people I met in Texas were from Mexico and points south, so I can’t really say what Texicans are really like…
Same deal in Illinois, believe it or not, and of course we’re not a Repub stronghold, but as many of us crossed over in 2008 to vote for Hillary in OpChaos, some of my lib-friends say they’re coming out for the Repub primary this March.
And all I can say to the Dembeciles is: Be careful who you vote for, you may get them.
Yes, and you saw the reaction to what you characterized as “homophobic bigotry”. Because, unlike you, even those who may disagree with me recognized that it was an opinion; that it didn’t involve intolerance.
You’re the one hurling insults because you disagree with my opinion, not me. My views of homosexuality may be politically incorrect, they may be downright wrong, but being politically incorrect or being wrong is not the same as being bigoted.
You’ve made no attempt to change my mind on the subject, you’ve merely tried to convince as many people as possible that I’m A Bad Person because I hold this politically incorrect view.
Bigotry requires intolerance. I’m not the intolerant one here, you are. You will not tolerate anyone whose opinion disagrees with yours on the subject of homosexuality.
I don’t know what your problem is, but you are very obviously seething with barely contained hatred. Ask any participant here; your hostility is palpable.
By contrast, I’ve been dealing with you calmly, reasonably, providing arguments to support my position. You’ve provided only insults.
Yes, I participate on Youtube. I welcome anyone to view any comment I’ve made on Youtube. Not all of them are correct, accurate or even well-reasoned, but I still stand by them, because, like here, most of my comments are all of the above.
Now, seriously, if we are to continue this conversation I’m going to have to advise you that I’m not a professional psychotherapist, and therefore can’t give you the help you seem to need. Seek counseling.
Santorum’s toast…
Shepherd Smith just accused him of equating homosexuality with bestiality, specifying “gay love” (no bias there, eh Shep?)
No way such a “bigot” can win the election…
Shepherd Smith needs to be shown the door…or…get a job at MSNBC.
Shep Smith was acting all giddy last night on the news when he was talking with a Hillary Clinton campaign manager who was talking about how it was back in the day when candidate obeyme was vying for the nomination. It was ugly to watch…they can’t hide their bias. Shep gives off the impression that he thinks these caucuses are nothing but a dog and pony show because his guy is gonna get reelected. A pox on him.
so the f*$# what?
I have a question for candidate Romney.
He contends that Romneycare was okay because it was State, whereas Obamacare is wrong (unConstitutional?) because it’s federal. States should decide the matter for themselves.
So, let me get this straight. Mr. Romney, do you think it’s okay for Virginia to have institutionalize slavery, provided that there’s no federal institutionalization of slavery? So that Virginia and Iowa can each decide for themselves whether they want slavery or not?
Mr Romney… why is an unconscionable and unConstitutional violation of individual liberty a bad thing under federal law, but perfectly okay under State law?
Romney has NEVER said he was wrong about Romneycare. He has ALWAYS defended it by saying there’s some difference between State and federal mandates.
I guess he’s counting on the 10th Amendment crowd to bail him out. Except some of us are 9th Amendment aficionados:
Couple that with the full text of the 10th…
Politicians such as Romney seem fond of forgetting that last clause.
I sure do miss the 10th Amendment…….
Face it, they are not following ANY of it anymore. Habius Corpus and Posse Comittatus went out the window last weekend and hardly anyone noticed.
The Usurper is now making recess appointments when Congress is not in recess.
What will the Gutless Obsequious Pussies do about it?
What have they done about any of it?
Oh, and by the way, the federal government has been overstating their enforcement of our immigration laws. Note that this article covers the Bush years. It is probably worse now, but This administration won’t open their books.
Our government will not enforce our laws and is lying to us about it.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/287190/report-government-vastly-overstating-immigration-enforcement-andrew-c-mccarthy
Myself being a resident of Orygun (Eug/Spfld) you may want to do some research before retiring here, after all it is as blue as any state on either coast. Just like America the state is politically controlled by major population areas. In Oregon, Portland of course home of the urban planning that has killed off most the expansion and jobs in the state…Salem the state capital and Eugene home of the U of O doesn’t get any bluer than those three cities. If you like 6 months of grey skies with a constant damp feeling in the winter you may like here. Eugene/Springfield has a nice of summers as you could ask for. Clear blue skies, temps. rarely get in the 90′s, remember I didn’t say never.
Good luck.
Fox will understand when their ratings tank.
O’Really brought up the same criticism in his interview with Santorum.
I never watch “Shep” – his arrogant attitude and “humor” are repugnant.
Same for Bill O’Reilly. Tonight, his Talking Points were all about how last night was a great victory for Romney – HUH?? Then he had Santorum on, and O’Reilly wouldn’t let him get a word in edge-wise, just badgering Santorum about how he’s going to be portrayed as an extremist.
I’m done with O’Reilly, Shep, and Greta. I used to watch FoxNews every night, but now I’m done. I’ll only watch Hannity, The Five, and Special Report.
BTW – where is the great up-swelling of support for Santorum?? Seems like everybody was looking for the “Conservative” alternative to Romney, and now we’ve found him. Where is the rejoicing?
Where’s the rejoicing? Maybe later when Santorum supports e-verify. Even Romney supports it. Yeah, immigration is a conservative issue.
Been done for ~3 years.
Don’t feel like I’ve missed a damn thing….
When I moved from Eugene to Phoenix I left a heat wave of 100+ degrees and it rained and flooded in Phoenix for 3 months.
Oh, I also DVR “Red-eye” with Gutfeld, but hardly have time to watch it, since my 4-year-old watches Nick Jr., and my 10-year-old watches Disney, and my wife watches HGTV, Lifetime movies, Hallmark, and the Food Network, etc. Even my dog is a female. Pity me… (Ha Ha)
Just to specify, my 4 and 10 -year-olds are girls, too.
I’m for that. Some traditions are over rated anyway, and the Iowa caucases are just that.
VP, it is more like selective enforcement. They enforce the laws they favor and not enforce the ones they detest. As I recall, the oath that Barry and his ilk, including one Eric Holder, took said something about the enforcing all of the laws of the U.S.