In Election 2008, Don’t Forget the Angry White Man
Michael sent me this well written article by Gary Hubbell for the Aspen Times Weekly that describes, to a tee, a lot of folks I know. It’s definitely worth a read.
There is a great amount of interest in this year’s presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates — a woman and an African-American — while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party’s nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain.
Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.
There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.
His common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard.
The victimhood syndrome buzzwords — “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him. He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.
He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives.
The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him.
The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina — he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter.
His last name and religion don’t matter. His background might be Italian, English, Polish, German, Slavic, Irish, or Russian, and he might have Cherokee, Mexican, or Puerto Rican mixed in, but he considers himself a white American.
He’s a man’s man, the kind of guy who likes to play poker, watch football, hunt white-tailed deer, call turkeys, play golf, spend a few bucks at a strip club once in a blue moon, change his own oil and build things. He coaches baseball, soccer and football teams and doesn’t ask for a penny. He’s the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a couple of friends, drill an oil well, weld a new bumper for his truck, design a factory and publish books. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the power plant on time so that you keep the lights on and never know what it took to flip that light switch.
Women either love him or hate him, but they know he’s a man, not a dishrag. If they’re looking for someone to walk all over, they’ve got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am.”
He might be a Republican and he might be a Democrat; he might be a Libertarian or a Green. He knows that his wife is more emotional than rational, and he guides the family in a rational manner.
He’s not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He’s willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English.
Most important, the Angry White Man is pissed off. When his job site becomes flooded with illegal workers who don’t pay taxes and his wages drop like a stone, he gets righteously angry. When his job gets shipped overseas, and he has to speak to some incomprehensible idiot in India for tech support, he simmers. When Al Sharpton comes on TV, leading some rally for reparations for slavery or some such nonsense, he bites his tongue and he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school, he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and law enforcement.
He also votes, and the Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It’s not that she is a woman. It’s that she is who she is. It’s the liberal victim groups she panders to, the “poor me” attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves.
There are many millions of Angry White Men. Four million Angry White Men are members of the National Rifle Association, and all of them will vote against Hillary Clinton, just as the great majority of them voted for George Bush.
He hopes that she will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, and he will make sure that she gets beaten like a drum.
Gary Hubbell is a regular columnist with the Aspen Times Weekly.
Doug
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Reader Comments (11)
Describes me perfectly! It is one of the strangest election years I have ever seen. Crappy candidates, a never-ending primary, just weird. I watch as people bestow rock-star status on Obama, an empty suit, and others who hail Clinton as, I don't know, Mother Teresa, while the media seems to have chosen McCain as the Republican candidate when he is more liberal than any of us would prefer. I know a leader is badly needed for the country, and I know that of the three, only McCain offers any leadership skills, but geez, I was hoping for a leader who leaned more centrist.
I'm an Angry White Man all right!!
Don't forget or underestimate the Angry White Woman. We share the same expectations, frustrations and disappointments. And we vote.
I, too, am bewildered by the attention given to Barrack Obama. He is a relative newby to politics and has never done anything that would help prepare him for such responsibility as the presidency. In an interview you posted a month or two back, he admitted that he lacks depth of experience or knowledge about world affairs but countered that his leadership style is to delegate to a group of people he trusts. I am sorry, but if we elect someone, we expect to rely on his judgment, not that of his underlings.
Hillary Clinton is another relative newby that hasn't done much, either. But she is more dangerous than Obama because she believes she is smarter than she really is. A loose canon, she would saddle the country with a healthcare burden that would break the country's back. She has also demonstrated that she is petty and vindictive. While social program beneficiaries and women who just want to see a woman, any woman, in the White House will probably vote for her, a huge red flag is waving for those willing to acknowledge it.
McCain is the best choice for the country, even with his liberal-leaning baggage. I suspect the Angry White Men (and Women) will realize that before election day.
The men have created the mess we find ourselves in. They caused all our wars and because we spend so much on wars, we are in a recession and have a huge deficit. It is time we had a woman president. Hillary would bring our troops home and give us a national health care program so that children don't have to suffer and poor people can get the quality health care they deserve. Just ending the war will provide more than enough money to pay for national health care. Go Hillary!!!!
Racine, I think you made Sara's point. No red flags in sight for you. Vote for Hillary because she is a woman and "promises" free health care to the have-nots, to be paid for by the haves. Sound reasoning.
Since I am a registered Independent, I will be voting for the least liberal candidate. That is a tougher call this election.
The pendulum has swung so far to the left that our two major parties have unrecognizable. The Republican party has become the old Democratic Party, while the Democratic Party has moved so far left they now more closely resemble the Socialist Party. People are attracted to "newer" political parties because they seem more aligned with the "old" Democrat and Republican philosophies. But these parties remain on the fringe of our political arena with little chance of gaining traction because the media, and indeed our own perceptions, don't allow them to compete in the "big tent" that is our two-party system. Instead, we are presented with two candidates, neither of which necessarily represent the core values we would like sitting in the White House.
We need to force the pendulum back to the center if we are to set our country back on the path to doing what is best and fair to ALL Americans.
I can't wait to see where this all goes. Hillary is becoming desperate, flailing wildly at Obama, while he sits back and says, "Who, me?" McCain is trying to fend off the "affair" allegations that are coming out earlier than usual in a presidential election, and voters are choosing sides for some of the dumbest reasons I've heard yet! Angry White Men (and women) may very well decide this election. I just wish they had a better field to choose from.
I guess I fall into that category too. I'm mad as hell and I plan to vote that way!
Angry conservatives. I'm loving it!
I'm not only angry, I'm mad as hell. I know I'll vote and hope that all the other "angry white man (men)" do so too.
Hold on to that anger, Mike, on election day! We need it!