[ExI] What Makes People Vote Republican

[Olga Bourlin]

From: "BillK" <pharos at gmail.com>
To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 2:50 PM

> If Obama sticks with this position he will be handing the election on
> a plate to McCain.

Yeah, USAmericans's appetite seems to be for ersatz "mac'n'cheese".  While 
it's not a new phenomenon (google: "Stevenson" + "Eisenhower" + "egghead"), 
it seems our politics are getting dumbed down more and more with each 
election:

[Palin's] fans seem inclined to forgive her any indiscretion short of 
cannibalism....The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, is 
that half the electorate revels in Palin's lack of intellectual 
qualifications. When it comes to politics, there is a mad love of mediocrity 
in this country. "They think they're better than you!" is the refrain that 
(highly competent and cynical) Republican strategists have set loose among 
the crowd, and the crowd has grown drunk on it once again. "Sarah Palin is 
an ordinary person!" Yes, all too ordinary.:

www.newsweek.com/id/160080/output/print