In January I made a bet with a friend of mine that any Republican candidate for president will beat any Democrat, provided he gave me 2 to 1 odds. Since then, everyone has been assuming that the democrats would win because Bush looks so weak, but all along I have been thinking about what I call the redneck vote. This election will come down to the redneck vote.
What exactly is the redneck vote? I think it can be summed up by a very limited world view. The kind of view that makes people think all muslims are their enemy. The kind of view that makes people fear immigration. The kind of view that thinks the solution to every problem is unilateral militarism and nationalism. These are the people who think Sarah Palin is qualified to lead the nation because her state has a maritime border with Russia. These are scary people and they will decide the election.
The key indicator here is that only 27% of Americans have a passport, so 73% have never been outside of their own country. They have no awareness of other cultures, and as a result they are willing to believe whatever people tell them about the world. When Bush and McCain say that the world is out to get them, they just say “OK – bomb them”.
Unfortunately I live in a country with many such people.