No Demons, Just Practical Politics

Dr. Blanchard offers an enjoyable (and not entirely negative) response to my initial commentary on Obama and values voters. Blanchard acknowledges that Obama's comments may simply be more unpopular than untrue. I will return the favor and acknolwedge the truth of Dr. Blanchard's statement that while "a lot of politics has its roots in economic issues... it is a very tangled plant growing from those roots."

The good professor does call me to task, however, for "demonizing the opposition." I asked readers to imagine a society that took stereotypical "values voters" positions to the extreme: every citizen carrying guns, all homosexuals deported, everyone in church on Sunday. In response to my fanciful hypothetical, Dr. Blanchard says:

The other side doesn't disagree with Cory because they are wrong, they disagree because they are wicked people. The views described above are sheer fantasy. They have nothing to do with any party or organized group in American politics. Small wonder that Obama's association with Reverend Wright doesn't bother Cory [Ken Blanchard, "Obama's View of Small Town America II," South Dakota Politics, 2008.04.13].

Oh, Ken -- I labor under no illusions that everyone who disagrees with me is wicked. There are plenty of nice people who disagree with me (and probably a few wicked people hiding among my many pleasant fellow travelers!). I am keenly aware that very few members of the International Right would advocate such radical ideas as I imagine (although such ideas are not unheard of). My point is that even when I turn my imagination loose and conjure up the wildest, most radical right-wing dystopia, a society beyond the wildest dreams of PP's nastiest commenters, I still don't see how a politics focused on guns, gays, and God solves any bread-and-butter issues.