Reconsider your response. How much of it was influenced by your personal history and by living in a multicultural, largely urban region? Sarah Palin's acceptance speech last night offered a lively and determined defense of small-town conservative values, and the buzz in the media hints that she may have ignited a culture war between liberal, urban cosmopolitanism and conservative, rural conservatism. Given the positive reaction to her speech, can we continue to argue that her embrace of tradition, duty, and heroism represents only a minority of Americans?
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Have the culture wars returned?
If your email exercise responses are any indication, the overwhelming majority of you believe more Americans identify with Barack Obama's story of multiculturalism, compromise, and change than with John McCain's story of duty, heroism, and tradition. But I wonder how people who live in small towns across the United States, towns with populations that share the same race and religion, might have responded. Do you think they would agree with your opinion?
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5 comments:
In consideration to the reaction to Palin's acceptance speech, I believe there is enough support on both sides to support a proper argument from either position. Obama's story is stronger in largely populated urban areas, while McCain's feels more at home in the smaller but more numerous towns and rural parts of America. I had originally thought that due to the current state of the country, Obama's background had a stronger connection to Americans, but I believe now Obama and McCain are on equal footing in connecting their lives to the nation.
Personal history does play a huge role in politics. It is the nature of the beast. But to assume that because we all go to school around DC that we all have a past in a large city is greatly flawed. I grew up in the middle of no where PA. And I didn't know what multicultural meant (other than the fact that my best friend was Methodist- that is right everyone what white) until I moved at age seven. and It wasn't until I was 14 that I was introduced to "multicultural" America.
There are people in small towns in the middle of America who do, as Palin said "love their Country" but at the same time you have to love each part of our nation, not just the one sliver that we ourselves fit in to. It is not that Obama's "multiculturalism" takes away from duty and tradition, but that it wants to spread our love of country out of the WASP population and to all.
In my opinion, I think most Americans relate more to Obama’s story than McCain’s. Obama’s story of multiculturalism, compromise, and change are all aspects of life that most Americans live with today and need to be practiced more often. McCain’s story of duty, heroism, and tradition although sound honorable these traits will just not work in a time where we need to change and adapt to the changing world around us. Tradition mixed with duty, and heroism sounds like a disaster, if we keep following our same lifestyles (such as consuming oil) America is going to be in trouble. Again McCain’s views seem noble and classic but it will not cut it in this time of change. Obama story isn’t just more suitable for this time period but it is also more realistic and revealing.
I think McCain was given the lesser quality and quantity of words here. The opinion above is based strictly from the information provided in this article. Obama's "adjectives" are more broad and descriptive, while McCain's "adjectives" more or less mean the same thing. So, from my stand point, the author is unfair and is in favor of Obama. Obama is given 3 good "adjectives" while McCain is given decent one. Seems a little unfair...
People vote their interest. If you are raised in a non-diverse state where everyone looks, acts and thinks the same, when you go to vote, you're concerns are going to differ from someone who is raised in a multicultural community like ours, it's obvious. People fear and shun things, people and ideas that are unknown to them. The clear example being the majority of those who are voting for McCain. For those who watched Palin's speech last night, the spectators that came out were what? A majority white and older. They made a great effort to show those one or two black and young supporters but you know that they were the minority when they kept showing the same few people over and over and over again.
Citizens can relate to Palin more then they can to McCain. Palin is a mother of five and McCain married into money. Obama worked his way up from the bottom and people can relate. Those who seek change for their future and the future of their kids should and do vote for Obama. The Republicans keep attacking Obama saying that if he wins it's because of his celebrity status, but how did he achieve that status? From doing and earning people's respect and votes.
The people who are more familiar with McCain story of heroism are those living in middle class are rural areas, and especially war veterans and McCain supporters. However, this is the problem with the American people supporting John McCain. They seem to not understand what is really going on the last eight years. McCain does supports President Bush polices 95% of the time, and if McCain is president , nothing much will change the next four years.
As for Sarah Polin speech, it does represent a minority of Americans because more Americans want change in leadership, and president bush's approval ratings prove it, and its more people are voting for a democrat then a republican (75% to 25% margin). The real question is America ready for a black president?
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