Joan,

I'm glad you think the debate is 'interesting'. I myself think it's depressing in the extreme, and infuriating. I can barely keep my hands from shaking as I type, when I read the kind of disgusting vitriol against people who live in Appalachia, as I do. The fact that I've been hearing it for thirty some-odd years doesn't make it any easier. The irony of it provides some relief, but irony only goes so far.

Here's the odd thing: I'm voting for Obama. I like Obama. I talk to other 'redneck white-trash cousinhumpers' who also like Obama, are interested in him, and have an open mind. Some of them drive pickups with confederate flag license plates, live next to interracial couples, and work with people who live openly in same-sex relationships. Welcome to the New South.

Know what, though? That will all go down the tubes once this kind of garbage makes the rounds down here. The Republicans and their ground machine, intact since 2004, will make sure that it does. Yes, people will want to vote their own interests, but given a choice about who to believe actually represents those, the ones associated with the insults and smears that we are so familiar with down here will not fare well. This is true whether or not they truly believe McCain gives a damn; at least he won't purposefully stick his finger in their eye.

I'll be knocking on doors this fall for Obama. The ones I'll be focusing on are the hard cases, because I've found that I can be persuasive even with right wing Republicans by listening, showing respect and entering into a discussion with them in good faith. I have bona fides they will respect, even though I spent 15 years on the coast, in Seattle, Ground Zero of latte-sipping. Because none of that means a damn thing to most of them. Some won't be swayed ... the ones some of you seem committed to your one-to-many fallacy in believing represent all of us ... but you never actually know who's going to come over until you try to engage them.

I'd appreciate it if the rest of you Obama supporters would either a) put aside your arrogance, reread Obama's race speech and start following his example, instead of trying to launch your own Cultural Revolution, or b) stay the hell home, and not make our jobs any harder. We'll do just fine without y'all. Really.

qs

Eric, sorry, I wish that were true but it is not. I've been having these conversations with (some) Obama supporters since January; the F2F versions are identical to what I have seen here, and the online versions could have been generated by the same script.

We've got a problem. Americans are angry, seething even, and as if on cue we form up in a big circle and start shooting.

Little Blue Dot, my wife and I are in the same boat as you, and feeling much the same way. Obama is not the same as his supporters, though. Remember, the alternative is not something the country can afford. That's what you're campaigning for, and against, and it's worth all the effort.

Thanks for the thoughtful post. I have an anecdote that ends in a prescription. Sorry it's long, but I hope you'll stick with it.

At one point in my tech career, I suddenly had to be responsible for selling the services of my team. The thought of doing 'sales' personally disgusted me. I was sent to a very high end and intensive sales training program, which completely changed my view and which turned out to have much broader applicability.

The program --- Solution Selling, if you're interested, taught by Mike Bosworth who has since retired, but his book by the same name is available on Amazon --- arose from scientific work done at Xerox PARC to study how people bought things; everything from toothpaste and tires to multimillion dollar enterprise software. The techniques were derived from the different phases in the 'buying cycle', and oriented to aligning oneself with the buyer's point in that cycle to move it to the next.

As I got out of tech work and into the non-profit sector, I found that this model worked even in other (non-western) countries, so long as you were very clear on what it was you were 'selling', what was the actual problem or 'pain' experienced by your targeted beneficiary, and honest in assessing their price sensitivity, risk aversion, and the value they placed on solving the problem ... and that you had established a real, albeit temporary, rapport with them.

I wish more Democrats could have gone through this program a generation ago; I don't feel like anything was ever properly done to 'sell' anyone on the principles and preferred policy frameworks of the party. I doubt anyone can do that, even just in Appalachia or rural America, in one election cycle. But there's an opportunity now, simply because of the war and the economy and the general insecurity, for someone like Obama to gain the rapport and start down the path, and keep the 'loose' groups ... not only Southerners, but others ... in our camp. Then, stick with it, and attack those problems ... making some progress, however small, on the ones that seem insoluble ... and watch the party bloom.

Great fact-filled post, thanks. I didn't know about Rahall, either! Much obliged. :>

Is this how the party intends to re-take power? Seems a little counterproductive to me. One could say the same of the entire country called the USA

If you think that's bad, go check out the threads at the following. As another Southerner, I bet they'll make your head explode:

http://tinyurl.com/3unw9n

http://tinyurl.com/4uaufv

The first is in response to the cover story, the second in response to Joan Walsh talking about the cover story.

There are some nice responses, though, which are also worth the read.