Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Some Interesting Thoughts on White Men & Obama

When I saw the headline, "Revenge of the white men," I thought it was yet another article about angry white males who are expressing their racial animosity towards President Obama by getting involved with the Tea Party.

But instead we have a thoughtful piece by David Paul Kuhn, the chief political correspondent of RealClearPolitics.com. Support for President Obama and the Democratic Party amongst white males has collapsed because they account for nearly half of all job losses during this recession.
But to merely dismiss them as "angry white males" is "poor politics" according to Kuhn:

Think about the average working man. He has already witnessed financial bailouts for the rich folks above him. Now he sees a healthcare bailout for the poor folks below him. Big government represents lots of costs and little gain. Meanwhile, like many women, these men are simply trying to push ahead without being pushed under. Some of them once believed in Obama. Now they feel forgotten.

Government can only do so much. But recall the Depression. FDR's focus on the economy was single-minded and relentless. Hard times continued, but men never doubted that FDR was trying to do right by them. Democrats should think about why they aren't given that same benefit of the doubt today.

Unfortunately, as long as Democrats are content to dismiss the discontent of white men as nothing more than a product racial animosity then they will never learn. After all, if it's all about race then why would they have voted for Obama in the first place?

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