Breaking news: The six percent advantage that Senator McCain enjoys among suburban white women has nothing to do with the relative wealth of these voters, but is based instead on the fact that women are “low hanging fruit” in the political process. If Senator Obama actually wants to “win big,” he’s really going to need to start playing down that “elitist” vibe and “reach up higher” in the proverbial tree of voters.
And just in: the real reason why white men don’t like Senator Obama is either because he is “elitist” or because of his African-American heritage. Their thinking has nothing to do with his policies. It is DEFINITELY one of these two reasons, though as of yet it’s completely “indistinguishable” which is more prevalent in the minds of voters. Stay tuned for up-to-date coverage on these pressing issues and others; you’re watching Hardball with Chris Matthews and his head-wagging pal, Chuck Todd.
And you thought that the cracked-out gender discussions and abysmal on-air remarks would stop in the general elections. On Hardball, maybe it was just a pre-game warm up. And on Wednesday night, the two were equal opportunity offenders.
On the June 11 edition of the show, said host packed his show with plenty of generalizations, unsubstantiated remarks, and other fun goodies for the viewer, starting off with some strategic tips for the candidates:
MATTHEWS: Why do men tend — let’s go to this men question here. Among white men, here we go, really breaking it down, McCain’s killing Obama, 55-35. Your thoughts about that category? … Is their concern with Obama that he’s more an elitist or that he’s African-American? Is there any way to distinguish that?
TODD: You can’t distinguish between it.
So that takes care of the men. But what about that other, more elusive gender?
MATTHEWS: But in a political [unintelligible], women are low-hanging fruit, though, in the terms of politics.
TODD: Correct.
MATTHEWS: You can reach up and say, “I’m pro-choice, he’s not.”
TODD: But you’re playing for a close election.
MATTHEWS: But you’re playing for a close election. If you want to reach up for the higher, for the harder ones to reach, you can win big.
So this must be what that New York Times Magazine article meant when it talked about equality: making equally sordid generalizations about both sexes!
Elizabeth Tuttle is an intern at CJR.