tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249050766158188233.post7391690729728751797..comments2011-03-23T02:36:17.539-07:00Comments on The Attached Observer: What is (really) the matter with Kansas?Ted Kinnamanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05154769703030014358noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249050766158188233.post-26674767592837263092010-04-13T19:36:47.337-07:002010-04-13T19:36:47.337-07:00Oh, Gary, you're my lone comment! Thank you!
...Oh, Gary, you're my lone comment! Thank you!<br /><br />1. You might be right on this. I certainly don't have data to support a claim about the motivation of voters, including Kansas voters. But my sense is different from yours: I think most people identified as social conservatives would cite noneconomic reasons for their votes. And I'm looking for a plausible explanation that avoids a simple attribution of ignorance.<br /><br />2. I didn't know this. My concern though isn't really with Kansas per se, but rather with white working class voters nationally. Also, I think that globalization has to be understood in more than an economic sense, in order to make sense of, for example, the huge wave of immigration that we've seen over the last 30 years.<br /><br />3. No kidding-- those guys give a lot of money to the right-wing economics department at George Mason!<br /><br />4. This seems like something we agree on, no?<br /><br />5. Yes, I respect Huck a lot more than Palin, that is, a lot more than not at all. That helps explain why he's less popular than her.Ted Kinnamanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05154769703030014358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4249050766158188233.post-79229139457738885902010-04-12T06:48:21.955-07:002010-04-12T06:48:21.955-07:00As one who adopted Kansas as a semi-home state, I ...As one who adopted Kansas as a semi-home state, I appreciate the article, but disagree, or at least want to comment, on several points.<br /><br />1) I believe, but can't prove, that economic interests are as much the basis of Kansan voters' choices as other issues. I think farmers and small-town business folks correctly identify themselves as small businessmen and that Republicans have convinced them (and most of us) that they are on the side of that small-business class. Of course, the R's are really on the side of large corporations, but convince many people that inheritance taxes and low capital gains taxes and less (big) business regulation are pro-small-business.<br /><br />2) Relative to globalization, Kansas is better off than most of the US. Grain and cattle farmers are generally helped by globalization. The aviation industry, the major manufacturing component in Kansas, is helped by globalization and pro-business policies. I don't believe there is any other large manufacturing base in Kansas that is hurt by the globalization movement. <br /><br />3) Wichita is home to Koch Industries, privately owned by the Koch family. This family and their business is one of the most reactionary and anti-environmental forces in the US. They spend millions behind the scenes to influence both national and state politics. One should not underestimate their influence. I expect they work hard to assure that Kansas politics stays favorable to their causes.<br /><br />4) I believe the perceived threat to traditional values is felt "just like" that in any other US areas of relatively conservative Christians. In this case the threat is not economic disruption even among the "poor." Kansas does not have poverty anywhere close to southern states or to that in the cities of the more progressive costal states. The issues of gay rights and abortion are just deeply held values that the crazy wing of the R's successfully turns into fear, both in Kansas and in the conservative Christian communities everywhere. I agree that the R's do not deliver anything significant for this group. It would be counterproductive to actually deliver results because fear is a better motivator than success.<br /><br />5) Just a minor point... I would not group Palin and Huckabee. The former is nothing but a performance. Huckabee is more consistent with his beliefs and policies. He appears to me to be more supportive of middle class and lower middle classes and more critical of some hawkish US policies. Since he runs as a Republican, he will be forced to take stronger pro-corporate-business policies and to support neo-con-ish militaristic polices. Palin is "W" in a dress.garylyndakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14480487434818030784noreply@blogger.com