A stalwart lefty colleague who lived in a red state for many years pointed to this New York Times article -- an unselfconcious exporation of the offensive stereotypes New Yorkers hold for benighted out-of-towners.
This type of smug response won't help build a majority to win elections.
On the other hand, the right-wing stereotype of a "liberal elite" -- referring to people with college degrees -- is toxic and chilling. The demonization of an educated population has a very long and dangerous history around the world -- China and Cambodia made particularly practical use of this stereotype.
Posted by alevin at November 5, 2004 09:43 AM | TrackBackI think you've nailed it: there's ample cause for concern in both directions, and very little sense of a center at all. That NY Times article is quite remarkable. Reasoned self-examination--blue or red--may well be a lost art.
Posted by: Gardner Campbell on November 6, 2004 12:06 PMThe other guys have their own form of elitism: they refer to their people as "real people" (see http://www.nationalreview.com/gregg/gregg200410270939.asp; if that's not elitist, I don't know what is). Kind of ironic, considering as how us over on this side are contemptuously referred to as members of the "reality-based community."
Posted by: Adam Rice on November 6, 2004 01:22 PM