१७ नोव्हेंबर, २०२३

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. — Winston Churchill was never more right."

That's the most up-voted comment — by a lot — at "We Talked to Some Kamala-but-Not-Joe Voters. Here’s What They Said. A slice of voters would vote for Vice President Harris but not President Biden, reflecting his challenges and opportunities" (NYT)(based on interviews with voters who, in a poll, said they would vote for Harris but not Biden).

A few of the things the Kamala-but-Not-Joe voters said: "her skin color is like my skin color," "I just think she has a lot more to offer than the standard straight old white dude," "I like the idea of a female lawyer," "just to see a female, a woman in power, being that I was raised mostly by females," "I feel like she would probably do more for us, because I feel like there’s not enough being done for Black people."

I read the top comment and decided to blog it before I read those quotes. Now, I feel unsettled that so many NYT readers voted for it. It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote. 

The headline doesn't mention the support shown for Trump
Antonio Maxon, 25, a garbage collector in Farrell, Pa., still plans to vote for Mr. Trump. But he likes Ms. Harris for a simple reason: “She’s a Black woman.” He said he lost faith in the political system after Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. It’s important to him, he said, “just to see a female, a woman in power, being that I was raised mostly by females.” He added, “My father was not there, my mother raised me, my grandmother raised me.”...

“My biggest thing is not seeing America fall in shambles,” he said. “With this war I think Biden is way too lenient — with Hamas, Iran, Iraq, the whole nine yards. What I like about Trump is he was keeping everybody at bay and not wanting to mess with America.”

६८ टिप्पण्या:

Gunner म्हणाले...

The NYT readers are ok with all those dumb answers, as long as it benefits a Democrat.

RideSpaceMountain म्हणाले...

"It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote."

Democrats have always regretted that. Since they've gotten it they've worked tirelessly to ensure their vote is controlled. Even Lyndon Johnson was quoted that "he would have those n**gers voting democrat for the next 200 years" in relation to his 'Great Society' push (one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history).

Black people have been on the plantation thoroughly since reconstructions, psychologically and politically. They never left.

Iman म्हणाले...

When a slice is more like a shaving…

walter म्हणाले...

It's high time.
She wants it?

Humperdink म्हणाले...

I think the only thing that might get the uninformed lefty voters attention is when they start starving. Think Venezuela as evidenced by our southern border. Even then the NYTimes will blame the R's.

Aggie म्हणाले...

You see? You can make people dumber, if you take your time, strive to fail at education, and buttress that with relentless messaging. Here we have an array of NYT readers that have been trained to select their leadership preferences based on race and sex - neither of which are premised on merit.

The point of all the selective enforcement of the laws based on political views, the opening of the border, and non-enforcement of shoplifting and breaking/entering theft laws in the deep blue cities, is to beat down the people and get them to clamor for more and stricter laws - not realizing that this is intended to apply only to them, the well-conditioned law-abiders. Our government does not mean well for our society, collectively; they mean well for themselves, individually.

R C Belaire म्हणाले...

"...because I feel like there’s not enough being done for Black people."

JFC. Let's review the last 55+ years here in the USA.

RideSpaceMountain म्हणाले...

Upvoting that Churchill quote is revelatory. It shows what so many already know. Democrats are the party of hierarchy, the party of class distinction, and the party of rigid conformity to dogma. It's never been a coincidence that it was the party of the 'cavalier' descendants of those fine English gentleman who built and created the plantation South in those great cavalier states of the South like Georgia, Virginia, or the Carolinas (named appropriately after English kings and queens).

The English class system never died when it was exported to the Anglophone new world, it just got modified, and black people were on the very bottom of it, Scots-Irish were just above them, and the proper English ladies and gentlemen were at the top of it. Fitting they would agree with Churchill's sentiment....how dare those uppity commoners have opinions of their own!

The democratic party preserves that system in so many ways it's uncanny for anyone who chooses to notice. It has had to struggle long and hard to shape itself in ways that hide the seething class struggle within its heart, but it is undeniable when you see things like this NYT piece.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote.

No, it's not. "Man on the street" interviews that just make fun of people are so common as to be cliché. This particualr one focused on people who would vote for Harris but not Biden--which means they excluded the people who vote party line--most Harris voters would vote for her because she has a D next to her name. What you're left with is people who will vote for her because she's a woman and people who will vote for her because she's a minority (though SFAIK, we never settled on which minority).

To isolate a group of people who are voting based on skin color and then object to the criticism because it's too much like saying people of that skin color shouldn't be allowed to vote doesn't make a lot of sense.

Kate म्हणाले...

People have seen so little of Kamala as VP she's devolved back into Generic Democrat status.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

The problem is women voting, not black people voting. Feelings trump structural stability.

Doug म्हणाले...

It's too close to regretting that womyn have the right to vote.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

"I feel like she would probably do more for us, because I feel like there’s not enough being done for Black people."

These voter are terrible at cause and effect. Its not the color of the skin, its the letter behind their name. Dems march in lock step. Dems opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

History keeps proving Donald J Trump right. "What have you got to loose?"

Pick a D, and the D's are going to pursue their singular goal. Get and keep more power. . . if some crumbs scatter at your feet, yipee.

Trump on the other hand worked on a simple goal. Make all decisions that benefit the people and the USA.

mezzrow म्हणाले...

Looks like engineering a Biden victory is going to be a big reach with a lot of issues going beyond their control. With enough manpower and money, and a sense of the American can-do spirit, perhaps NYT readers will be motivated to send a note in a bottle to the DNC. Well, if it can get the note past the ring of pro-Hamas protestors surrounding the building, that is.

This is going about as well for them as the Las Vegas Grand Prix, so far. So much for hubris. I'm currently listening to Dean Phillips talk to the All-In guys while typing this, and he's really impressive. Recommended.


Dean Phillips, Presidential Candidate, Democrat - on All-In

TreeJoe म्हणाले...

One of the great issues in our country right now is the priority of identity over competency, of positions over proven track record.

Democrats do it. Republican do it. Abortion voters do it (on both sides). Gun control voters do it (on both sides). I could go on.

It's painful to read and see how many people will vote for a blatantly incompetent VP - giving that person vastly more personal power - because of sex or ancestry, rather than ability to advance anything in the nation's interest.

Robert Marshall म्हणाले...

Mr. Maxon, sanitation engineer, has the common sense to realize that we're in a war with Iran, whether we like it or not. (Have been for many years.) Though not queried about it, I'd guess he also has the good sense to realize that giving our de facto enemy billions of dollars, over and over again, is a form of insanity. Say what you will about garbage collectors; this guy seems to get it.

My name goes here. म्हणाले...

I saw Trump at a rally in 2016 in Sumter, SC. This was still early in the campaign and media narrative was that Trump was a clown show and this was nothing more than an opportunity to make fun of rubes. It had all of the accessories of any normal campaign, lots of posters, buttons, pins, hawksters, an older woman in a too short skirt and her star spangled boots. There was even a guy there in a superman cape.

Before Trump got there and after he left the stage, there were media combing through the crowd. Without trying I could hear the questions they were asking. "Why do you support Trump?" And there were lots of answers, "Because I want my children to be able to get jobs." "Because we need to bring back manufacturing." "Because Sumter SC has a problem with illegal immigrants." One person, in a trucker's cap went at length at how the Chinese were manipulating their currency and impacting American exports. This reporter was being given the how to from a bubba in a trucker's cap. One reporter asked about Trump being against immigration and three different time three different rednecks corrected the reports saying that he was against "illegal immigration." It did not matter, the press had a story to write and none of those answers I heard were reported in any of the media as I scoured it the next day.

That rally of significantly working class people had a better collective understanding of the issues of the 2016 campaign than the press corps following candidate Trump.

Lilly, a dog म्हणाले...

I read the article, and it seems to me that the NY Times is just push polling for Biden.

hawkeyedjb म्हणाले...

"Bridgette Miro, 52, a RETIRED state employee..."

What a gig.

Aggie म्हणाले...

Of course, Churchill also said:
" 'No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time...."

Leland म्हणाले...

To be fair, a modern take on Winston Churchill remark is rather than a 5-minute chat with the average voter; simply read the comments section.

rehajm म्हणाले...

My biggest thing is not seeing America fall in shambles

…and yet you and people like you are the tip of the spear in what causing it…

…I’m ambivalent about these kinds of things. These are the answers from people that have the time to talk to NYT/ not exactly a thorough sampling of the electorate. Did any of the Althouse comment talk to NYT? No?

gilbar म्हणाले...

what PROOF, that the average (black, or otherwise) voter is Stupid?
They think an upper caste indian woman getting knocked up by a jamaican would produce an African American
oh, they'd Also think that that offspring growing up in CANADA would be an African American

Who was the last Presidential candidate descended from American Slaves?

Humperdink म्हणाले...

It's not just lower level lefties who are all-in regardless of merit. MSNBC commentator Mike Barnicle stated unequivocally that a 45 year old couldn't do the things Biden gets done.

He knows he's lying, we know he's lying, he knows we know he's lying.* I am clueless as to what their end game is. They are going into the tank too.

* Attributed to the Soviet citizens referring to Pravda.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Of course, as a famous democrat famously said..
"it's not the votes that count; it's Who counts the votes"

Cappy म्हणाले...

Welp...

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"I feel like there’s not enough being done for Black people."

With an attitude like that, your never getting anywhere.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Ann:

When are you going to figure out that NYT readers are the dumbest people on Earth.

Yourself excepted of course.

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

Democracy is a beautiful thing, except for that part about letting just any old yokel vote.

-Jack Handy

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"Now, I feel unsettled that so many NYT readers voted for it. It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote."

What is the source of your unease? That the shallowness of their vote has been exposed? That unsettles me.

What I regret is that the democrats ballot harvesting campaign gets these people to vote. If you're voting for a person because "her skin color is like my skin color", that's damaging to the country.

RideSpaceMountain म्हणाले...

"One of the great issues in our country right now is the priority of identity over competency, of positions over proven track record."

Complex systems will not survive the competency crisis. Kamala and Joe "watch me turn into a Roomba" Biden are people's exhibit A.

Milo Minderbinder म्हणाले...

The NYT has become entirely a daily comic book.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote.

Not to mention women who vote for whomever makes their vaginas get moist.

robother म्हणाले...

People forget that the main argument Democrats made for slavery in the decades before the Civil War was paternalism. The Democrat Party of the 1960s merely updated that argument. It essentially denies agency to its beneficiaries, indeed the whole thing is premised on the assumption that they have no agency. We see this in politics ("if you don't vote Democrat, you ain't Black"), in law (all law enforcement in Black communities is racist) and in science and math (all standards of testing that don't result in Blacks graduating or being admitted must be eliminated.) Plus ca change...

who-knew म्हणाले...

"It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote. " I don't agree with this. This is just a sampling artifact. Were the commenters identified by race (other than the ones who self-identified)? These two quotes:
"I just think she has a lot more to offer than the standard straight old white dude,"
"I like the idea of a female lawyer,"
Could have easily come from any of the nice white females you are surrounded by in Madison. If you're interviewing democrats who support Harris you are bound to get more blacks, especially because the party relentlessly supports identity politics. I think it is more a sentiment that stupid people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

AlbertAnonymous म्हणाले...

The “slice of voters” who would vote for Harris but not Biden? Good God! How many people could possibly be within that baloney thin slice?

This whole article is baloney.

Kamala is useless, without her “me too” acts blowing willie brown she’d be nowhere. Totally old school. Get ahead by giving head.

Oligonicella म्हणाले...

Pres Harris - an entirely new meaning to foreign affairs. But one must admit, she could probably blow away any meeting. Hopefully, she'll ask for more than street prices.

Rusty म्हणाले...

Well. A five minute conversation with a democrat anyway.

gilbar म्हणाले...

I think it is more a sentiment that stupid people shouldn't be allowed to vote.

the problem with literacy tests (or poll taxes), was that they all had "grandfather clauses"
To vote, you HAD to pass a "literacy test".. Or, just prove that your grandfather voted b4 the tests.

LITERACY (and, more importantly, math) TESTS FOR ANY AND ALL VOTERS!!
If you're not competent to vote.. you SHOULDN'T vote

Rocco म्हणाले...

A few of the things the Kamala-but-Not-Joe voters said...
"[H]er skin color is like my skin color"

Mine, too, after a day at the beach.

"I just think she has a lot more to offer than the standard straight old white dude"

Indeed. That's why Willie Brown kept her around.

"I like the idea of a female lawyer"

So watch Gerri Kellman on Succession or Alicia Florrick on The Good Wife. Or if the lawyers wearing short skirts is important, Ally McBeal.

"[J]ust to see a female, a woman in power, being that I was raised mostly by females."

So watch Veep. Or a Margaret Thatcher / Queen Elizabeth (I or II) / Bobbie Sterne biopic.

""I feel like she would probably do more for us, because I feel like there’s not enough being done for Black people."

Like locking up a lot of young black men on drug charges? Kamala has done plently to Black people.

Rocco म्हणाले...

gilbar said...
"Who was the last Presidential candidate descended from American Slaves?"

Kanye West. Ye, with Michelle Tidball as his VP candidate, got almost 68k votes as an independant in the 2020 election.

Temujin म्हणाले...

She could be as dumb as a head of cabbage...but she's a Black woman.
Jeez. We've got about 1 generation left before we'll be begging the CCP to come in here and get a new direction going. You cannot run a nation this large, an economy this large, meeting the needs of 330,000,000+++ people, with a cohort of stupid and getting- dumber-every-day people.

Alexander म्हणाले...

"In multiracial societies, you don't vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion." — Lee Kuan Yew

There's nothing wrong with regretting that people who aren't cut from your cloth have the vote. Increasing the diversity of the electorate, beyond allowing them some recourse to veto policies that if allowed would truly make their lives unbearable, is a social, economic, and geopolitical disaster.

rcocean म्हणाले...

What is the purpose of this article? Kam is BIden's VP. And all the "kam but not Joe" voters will end up voting for Biden.

I find articles about Black voters boring because blacks vote as a bloc, always have, and will vote 80-90 percent for Biden in 2024, just like they did in 2020. And just like they've done for the last 50 years.

A Majority of blacks have NEVER voted for a Republican POTUS candidate since 1928. Nixon got 32 percent in 1960. This is after Nixon supported the 1957 civil rights act, and JFK had LBJ on the ticket, a man who'd supported segregationist positions in Congress for 20 years. During the New Deal, you had the odd situation of both Southern Segregations and Northern blacks supporing FDR.

And why be suprised at the NYT's readers attitude? The liberal/left's approval of this or that group is always conditional upon them supporting the Democrats and liberal/left positions. If in 2024, 51 percent of blacks vote for Trump, the NYT's will make the KKK seem reasonable.

Iman म्हणाले...

“Reparations Now!”

—- Crack

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Kamala is an idiot.

Ever listen to her? Kamala is an idiot.

William50 म्हणाले...

I'll just quote Frank Zappa...

Do you love it
do you hate it
there it is
the way you made it
aarrrrrrrrrgg

Jupiter म्हणाले...

"It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote."

Oh, now, why would you regret that?

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Honestly, how many people under the age of 35 even read the NYTimes? I would guess their readership is 99% over 35 years old. The people commenting on the article are not the people in the interviews.

n.n म्हणाले...

The democratic/dictatorial duality is steered through pride, prejudice, and journalistic legerdemain.

n.n म्हणाले...

Democracy was overriden by a judge in California, rendered dysfunctional by a judge in Hawaii, denied audits by the Democrat party, opposes "war" but supports ethnic Springs, protests for human rites, stands for diversity, holds parades to celebrate exclusion, etc.

hombre म्हणाले...

That comment may not mean what NYT bubble people think it means.

n.n म्हणाले...

... offers empathy-laden apologies for Levine's dreams of Herr Mengele, the wicked solution, etc.

mikee म्हणाले...

I don't see it as that close to regretting that Black people get to vote. I see it as much, much closer to regretting that All People get to vote, or perhaps more accurately, that ANY PEOPLE get to vote.

Harun म्हणाले...

In theory, democracy can avoid this in two ways:

1) People who are really uninformed, apolitical types simply don't vote.

2) There are clumps of ignorant voters in both parties, and they offset each other.

Problem: what if democracies become less about "votes" and more about maximizing ballots for your side?

So, instead of uninformed apolitical types NOT voting, they are contacted at home by a friendly ballot harvester who convinces them to vote the way the harvester wants (or maybe that ballot gets "lost" by the harvester if the voter was misguided)

then this plays into #2, where both sides have to race around doing this, and turnout is more important than educated voters deciding matters.

For example, it is far easier to visit voters in dense cities and harvest their ballots (tossing any chaff into the trash bin on your way to the ballot box) than say, in rural areas.)

You may think I am joking about tossing "bad ballots" but I registered voters and we were told to take the GOP ones to the office and put the Dem ones in a mailbox...and I'm not 100% sure some people didn't get lazy about that...we had guys for the other side who would convince GOP people to sign up as dems to "see the other side" and then regret that. Notice the motivation doesn't need to be partisan to do this, either.

Rabel म्हणाले...

"In the poll and at the beginning of the interview, Ms. Miro said she would vote for Mr. Trump this election. She’s a Republican who said “I don’t have any feeling at all” about the job Mr. Biden has done as president. But by the end, she had switched her support to Mr. Biden, after recalling her negative views about Mr. Trump, who she said was racist and didn’t do enough to prevent police violence against Black people."

Having granted the Times permission to quote and identify her, Ms Miro, an African American, determined that discretion is the better part of valor and changed her answer to suit the moment.

Rabel म्हणाले...

"We called back some of these Harris supporters to understand why they didn’t support Mr. Biden, and whether he could win them over."

"In the poll and at the beginning of the interview, Ms. Miro said she would vote for Mr. Trump this election."

So why did they call back Miro?

Narayanan म्हणाले...

are the polls reports showing black support for Kamala = 'as she is as intelligent as we are'??!!

Greg the Class Traitor म्हणाले...

I read the top comment and decided to blog it before I read those quotes. Now, I feel unsettled that so many NYT readers voted for it. It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote.

Only if you think that most black voters, or a higher % of black voters, are racist pigs, sexist pigs, or otherwise pathetic losers.

n.n म्हणाले...

Diversity doctrine encompasses a broad range of color judgments and class bigotry in a variety of class-disordered ideologies.

That said, diversity of individuals, minority of one. Men and women are equal in rights and complementary in Nature. #HateLovesAbortion

n.n म्हणाले...

Orange (sic) you glad to vote for a Person of Orange?

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"I think the only thing that might get the uninformed lefty voters attention is when they start starving."

Hahaha! Of course the righties will assume all the uninformed voters are the "leftys," (sic). The truth is: it's nearly everyone!

Most people just aren't extraordinarily bright, and those in power (in the private sphere as well as in the public sphere) strive to keep the moderately intelligent immoderately un- and misinformed. (The Republicans make things worse by the significant number of them who are or pretend to be Christians, faithful to Jaysusss and Gawwwd! Add religiosity to ignorance and you're going to get an ugly shitshow every time!

FullMoon म्हणाले...

Youtube short vids asking people would they vote for Trump or Biden.
For Biden or Against Trump cannot give reasons why

People for Trump will list positive things about Trumps time in office.

People against Biden will list reasons why.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

I read the top comment and decided to blog it before I read those quotes. Now, I feel unsettled that so many NYT readers voted for it. It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote.

Oh fer fuck’s sake. As the 2020 primary proved, Kamala Harris has zero support in the African American community, just as she has zero support among Progressives. Her peeps are professional white women, the kind of people who thought Hillary Clinton would be a culmination of all their hopes and dreams. Mocking them is fine.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

"It's too close to regretting that black people have the right to vote."

I'm OK with blacks voting, but not so sure about college-educated white women.

They're pretty much the sole reason that we are so fucked up as a country.

But I don't think you should be allowed to vote unless you pay net positive taxes.

Bunkypotatohead म्हणाले...

I would think people who voted for Harris are idiots and this article proves it.

Readering म्हणाले...

Kamala but not Joe is my attitude also--unless the alternative is The Donald.

Leora म्हणाले...

Gilbar asked who was the last presidential candidate descended from American slaves. There was a strong rumor that it was Warren Harding. When asked about if he had a Negro ancestpr, he said he didn't know.