Reaching Out to the Common Man

The modern Republican Party may be about cutting aid for the poor, stagnant wages and reduced government benefits for the middle class, and tax cuts and enormous profits for the rich, but for some reason they are seen as a party of the people. They do put on a good show - $1,500 hot dogs, and rallies where the rich are invited to dress down to look like "REAL WORKER types, etc." (with hard hats to be distributed on site).

Meanwhile, with what I would deem a poor choice of words for a political campaign, Dean suggests that the Dems reach out to the southern working class in a manner that is genuine, as opposed to the increasingly successful Republican charade. His critics on the right purport that this is a snobbish appeal to the "white trash vote". Perhaps Deans most vociferous critics on the left, and the wealthy and well-connected on the right who take time out from their $1,500 hot dogs to snivel that the Dems are elitist, should take note of the following from a letter to the New York Times:

No Southerner I've talked to — of whatever class or color — sees Dr. Dean's comments as anything other than an indication that he is willing to go after everyone's vote, including that of the working-class white male.

Perhaps both sides should take note of the fact that southerners are smart enough to know when a northerner is being condescending. And many are concerned that, despite a great Republican sales pitch, voting for Bush in 2003 is against their interests.

Perhaps Dean's biggest "sin" was his assumption that he could make reference to the Confederate Flag as something other than a symbol of slavery and institutionalized racism, and that people would understand (or at least not pretend to misunderstand) his actual intentions. Was the problem that he stereotyped the southern working class, or that he neglected to stereotype the northern liberal?

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