Reply #1: Reply to Clinton Supporters Charge of Elitism [View All]

This replay was added to the last post with multiple links present.

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3253

Update: As we’ve encountered so many times before, the economic populist/social conservative wing of the Democratic Party which backs Clinton resorts to ad hominem attacks when they have no rational arguments to support their case. The Democratic Daily begins by repeating the fallacy of over-emphasizing the fact that Clinton does better among working class Democrats. To them, only white, working class voters seem to matter. If you are black, a white collar worker, or, heaven forbid, educated, you are an elitist whose vote does not count. By their bizarre logic, Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be able to receive more than eight percent of the black vote, as James Clyburn has pointed out.

This attitude that only the working class vote matters is a major reason why the Democrats have been a minority party for so many years. As I’ve pointed out in several previous posts, Democrats have the best shot when they form a big tent which welcomes the votes of a wide variety of people. Obama does have the ability to bring in the votes of liberals, including the affluent and educated voters which Clinton supporters insult as elites whose votes do not matter. Obama will also bring in the traditional core Democratic votes, including the working class, just as Clinton would have been able to bring in the black vote under normal circumstances. (This year creates a particular problem in that the race baiting used by the Clinton campaign will cause a tremendous number of blacks to remain at home).

Education and intelligence are also important in distinguishing between Clinton and Obama supporters. There are several reasons why the educated voters overwhelmingly choose Obama over Clinton. One reason is that Clinton campaigns based upon flawed economic policies to pander to the lower income voters. She promotes policies such as the gas tax holiday and and her proposals for the mortgage crisis which require education and knowledge of the issues to see the serious errors. Clinton and her supporters try to circumvent criticism of her plans by the educated by writing them off as elites whose views do not matter. While Obama is developing a diverse group of supporters, Clinton is now leading an anti-intellectual movement which believes they can shout down those who criticize them as elitists.

Clinton has also depended on low educated, low-information voters when she has spent much of her campaign using mailers and robo-calls to distort Obama's positions and record. The smarter one is, the more likely they are to see through such attacks. One responds to the Clinton campaign's talking points in much the same way the do with Fox News. Either they have the ability to see through the propaganda or they do not.

Another reason that education and intelligence separate the voters is that there is a high correlation between education and belief in the liberal values which differentiate Obama and Clinton. While populist on economic issue, and therefore mislabeled a liberal, she is a conservative on social issues, civil liberties issues, and foreign policy. She has stronger ties to the religious right than the presumptive Republican candidate. She backs the same types of abuses of executive power practiced by George Bush. Clinton supported the war, despite her attempts to hide this fact. It is unfortunate that the Clinton camp echoes the Republicans in opposing these liberal values and in considering the educated people who defend liberalism as elitists.