The argument that "generally, people are stupid" is a rather compelling one, at first blush. We all have our own personal mountain of anecdotal evidence supporting such a statement.
What's scary is when people base political ideas and actions off such a silly, sweeping phrase. For one, it can lead down some disgusting paths (paeans to "those meant to lead and those meant to follow", justifications for removing power from the people to bureaucratic and elected self-proclaimed mandarins, etc.). A much better sweeping statement would be "generally people rise up (or lower down) to your expectations."
Here's some anecdotal evidence that may prove a bit of a cure to the arguments that the people Frank writes about in What's the Matter with Kansas and poor, white (and rural) Republicans in general, and a brief sketch of what the real problem may be... Read More »
John Dean's new book, Conservatives without Conscience, looks at the growing authoritarian tendencies among both Republican elected officials and their followers. I have yet to pick up the book (though I plan to), but it reminded me of a study I saw a few years ago, "Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition." It's a survey of the past 50 years of psychological research into the nature of conservatism and authoritarianism, and it draws some striking (if not surprising for some) conclusions.
Here's the full study [PDF]. For the uninitiated, the first several pages may seem tough to wade through, but things get really interesting after that.
Keith Olbermann has a nice interview with John Dean. Dean was also on the Daily Show, but I don't think Stewart really let him say much substantive. Video here.
Candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, courtesy WaPo
While conservative Calderon's lead has shrunk to less than one half of one percent, his campaign is eager to declare the recount over and Calderon the winner. Obrador, the left's candidate in the race, has issued a statement challenging the validity of the outcome as ballot boxes are being found in garbage dumps, including 10 official ballot boxes found in a dump in a poor area, according to the Mexican paper El Universal. Link
This is Mexico's first real test of election safeguards since they were installed roughly a decade ago -- all other presidential elections up until now under the new election scheme have not been close at all.
Echoing jre's post, Instant Runoff Voting would have likely produced a clear majority winner (neither Obrador or Calderon have more than 40% of the vote!). IRV is gaining some serious traction here in the states, with cities like Takoma Park, San Francisco and Burlington having adopted it, and states like Delaware, Maryland and Vermont considering it statewide. Both IRV and PR (proportional representation) may be exotic here, but to much of the rest of the world it's nothing new -- and it works.
Democrats: easiest way to eliminate the "spoiler" role of Greens and progressive Independents? Implement IRV!
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