"Uneducated black voters"

[OzarkDem]

Can you imagine the news media using a label like that to describe a candidate's voting base? Of course not, it would be considered irrelevant, unfair and offensive.

So why is it ok for the news media to parse Clinton's strong base of women voters and characterize them as "uneducated" and "downscale"?

Her base is no less educated than any other candidate's, Democrat or Republican. Its time to call out the news media for using these terms to describe any candidate or party's base of support.

[blogslut]

1. I guess every state has its fair share of silly people

Ron Paul took 16% and Mike Huckabee got 11% of the republican vote in Pennsylvania last night.

[forintegrity]

3. I thought Huckabee was no longer running

Why was he even on the ballot?

[blogslut]

6. Hell if I know

I'm just a high school educated, low-end, female Obama voter

[forintegrity]

2. The news media is a waste of my time.

They have become the "National Enquirer" of TV!

Corporate whores.

[OzarkDem]

4. Sadly some fellow Dems are stooping to the same level n/t

[Forkboy]

5. This has been an angle of attack from the media and some Obama supporters that bothers me.

[OzarkDem]

7. Thanks for saying it

:hug:

[DangerDave921]

8. What term would you prefer?

The exit polls indicate that Hillary does better with those voters who are less educated. Obama does better with folks who are more educated. It's a fair distinction to make. So how does one phrase that without sounding critical?

[leftofcool]

9. Oddly enough

everyone we know who voted for Hillary has a Ph.D

[OzarkDem]

12. And Obama's base

is also made up of PhD's?

[susankh4]

23. Many of us do have grad. degrees.

That is true.

I think there is an inherant problem with using polling statistics to explain things like this to the public.

Tho actuarial information may be helpful to the campaigns, and to pundits who understand what they mean.... for most of the population, who don't deal in statistics everyday... the information is next to meaningless.

In a worst case scenario.... poorly understood numbers can be harmful. They could influence folks to vote one way or another. In other words... some people may think "I'd better vote with the educated, they know more than me." Or, they could go the other way and say "I don't trust the educated elite, if they are voting this way I will vote the other."

This is partly a problem with *too much* media coverage. They have nothing else to talk about 24/7. So they resort to polling data, which is fairly meaningless.

[Bake]

64. I've got three post-baccalaureate degrees, and I support Sen. Clinton.

But we're just poor dumb white folks ...

Bake, B.A., M.Div., M.B.A., J.D. (and I didn't bother to add the cum laudes ...)

[OzarkDem]

11. Provide me with some proof

Sorry, I don't believe you. As I said in my OP, the news media is parsing Clinton's supporters to cast a negative view of them.

Obama no doubt has a portion of his base that is similar to Clinton's, but strangely, that reference isn't made.

And describe for me what "uneducated" means? The term implies a group of people who have never had any education whatsoever. That's a pretty rare phenomon in the US.

[DangerDave921]

34. well

I'm just going by reports of exit polling. I don't have any first-hand polling data to report to you. I'm sure you can Google it and find exit polling data from the various states.

Also, is the MSM really using the term "uneducated"? That is a misnomer if they are.

[Shae]

36. MSNBC

used the terms "College graduates" in their exit polling dating.
I think the other end was "non college graduates" but not sure. It wasn't "uneducated" though.

[DangerDave921]

37. That's fine then

Maybe we need to break up the country. Hillary can lead the old people, the women, the poor people, and the less educated. Obama can rule the black people, the more educated, and the more affluent. LOL

[Shae]

45. hey, wait a minute!

I'm one of the women. No fair dammit!!!:P

[DangerDave921]

46. Sorry

We must adhere to strict categorization of people, based on the scientific principles of exit polling as reported by the MSM. No deviations will be allowed!

:)

[Phillycat]

54. You mean this exit polling?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5647925

So basically, you're talking out of your ass, then?

[DangerDave921]

61. Go F yourself

No need to be a rude a-hole. Just point out the facts and educate me.

[Zhade]

76. "I don't believe you." Coming from someone who denies the video evidence that proves clinton lied...

...about Tuzla, you're not in the position to demand honesty from OTHERS.

[susankh4]

13. How about "working class"

or "union folk."

In other words... I think folks should be defined by what they are, not waht they aren't.

"Less educated" or "uneducated" is a negative.

[OzarkDem]

19. Re Clinton's base of women voters

I'm not sure even the demographic description is accurate. She has a very large base of women voters. I can't believe that the majority of them have had no education.

[susankh4]

25. Good point.

And, as I said elsewhere in this thread....

I think the problem lies in an overuse of statistical data to fill up vapid air time.

Actuarial information is only so helpful. It can help a campaign manager to understand populations, but it does nothing to help us understand individual motives.

[Phillycat]

55. Also, it's not working class or union folk that make up her supporters.

Have some facts: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5647925

[MonkeyFunk]

75. Clinton won college grads in PA

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#PADEM

go to page 2.

[susankh4]

10. It is getting a little bit old.

And insulting.

No wonder my working class friends get so sick of politics.

[spinbaby]

14. It's code

They mean racist hicks.

[JVS]

15. Or if not rural, meatheads.

[OzarkDem]

17. Ok to use the same terms to describe black voters?

Just wondering. :shrug:

Didn't the MSM use "values voters" to refer to rural voters in the last election?

[OzarkDem]

16. If they're referring to women voters

they're wrong.

[JVS]

18. The reason that the phrase never comes up is not because the media assumes that all black people...

have PhDs you realize.

[OzarkDem]

22. Of course

and all women voters have no education, too. :sarcasm:

[JVS]

24. Play that victim card. It goes over great in Hillary's PA T-zone.

[OzarkDem]

26. And Obama supporters wonder

why the women Clinton supporters say they won't vote for him if he makes it to the GE.

Could it be they're tired of the Archie Bunker style insults?

[JoFerret]

20. Absolutely.

.

[madmom]

21. How about Obama supporters are over educated pompous asses, bet that would

make some of them squeal, but isn't that about the opposite?

[susankh4]

27. Hahahhhaaaaaa....

Nice to see a sense of humor this morning! Great way to diffuse the tension.

Thanks for that characterization. It shows how silly all the parsing of our candidates' support really is.

[Umbram]

28. It is not hard to see which side of the education dichotomy you fall on.

I believe educated and uneducated are pretty classic opposites.

"verly educated pompous asses" and "dumb-shit knuckle-draggers" would be opposites.

I think maybe this could have been picked up watching Sesame Street? I recommend it.

In either case, I don't subscribe to the very Republican concept of anti-intellectualism, but yes, I am a pompous ass.

Cheers.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Umbram]

33. Confirmed.

Yes, the Obama team is entirely in charge of the media and exit polls. Having planted the secret code word "uneducated" our next plan is to get rid of all small sized lattes and create a new, larger sized one. The old medium is the new small. The old large is the new medium. The new large is enormous. You can now see the genius of our plan.

With these larger sized lattes available to us, we will be able to further subjugate the working class.

[madmom]

50. It's replies exactly like this with your condescending tone that makes people dislike you and

the Obama team.You think your being funny but it just makes you look more the pompous ass. What exactly is wrong with trying to reach out to people who disagree with you and find out where the problem lies? Oh that's right it's every body else's fault for not "getting" you, not your fault for not explaining or even trying to find out what the problem is.

[Umbram]

59. Let's turn this around...

"How about Obama supporters are over educated pompous asses..." - madmom

It's replies exactly like this with your judgmental tone that makes people dislike you and the Clinton team. You think your being funny but it just makes you look more the judgmental ass. What exactly is wrong with trying to reach out to people who disagree with you and find out where the problem lies? Oh that's right it's every body else's fault for not "getting" you, not your fault for not explaining or even trying to find out what the problem is.


---

Funny how that works, applies just as well to you as it does to me. I only had to change "pompous" to "judgmental."

I'd never bother make that argument to begin with though, as I don't judge a campaign by what some anonymous people on the internet have to say.

Lastly, I'm not so self-important to believe myself to be on the "Obama team." I am one of 300 million dipshits in this country that has an opinion.

[Bake]

65. Well, you're partially correct anyway ...

You got the "dipshit" part right.

Bake

[Umbram]

66. *golf clap* (nt)

[madmom]

71. Funny how this started out with this little gem of a statement..

"Clinton's strong base of women voters and characterize them as "uneducated" and "downscale"?"

I was just wondering if the opposite was opined if it would be ok, apparently not. You don't like being called names neither does anyone else!

[Umbram]

72. Agreed.

I don't think "uneducated" is an appropriate term to use for individuals who lack college educations. Did I say I did?

In fact, it is as ridiculous as the "latte liberal" term that has been being thrown around for a while now, the one you were opining on, as if it hasn't been being used to create an artificial cleavage between democrats for months now. It is rather disingenuous to pretend that Clinton's supporters haven't been painting Obama's supporters as wealthy, elitist, latte-sipping brats for over a month now. It seems to me that you don't have to "wonder," as doing that merely pretends Clinton's supporters have no culpability in the foolishness of this artificial class divide that the media has cooked up.

Search the term "latte liberal" if you like.

You can paint Obama supporters as the Boogie men if it pleases you, but take a look at those around you every so often.

[Zhade]

77. LOL! Nice pwnage, man.

SMACKDOWN.

[dkf]

29. Because she does better with lower income women than higher income women.

And her base is less educated than Obama's. He does better with college educated voters and she does better with non-college educated voters.

Downscale is a short cut.

Its pure demographics.

[OzarkDem]

30. Got a link?

Because I suspect its a myth.

[dkf]

31. Here's California.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225970/

[OzarkDem]

38. It doesn't break down education by gender or race/ethnicity

That's the problem.

The news media and punditocracy are linking women and uneducated voters together, but they aren't doing the same for other groups - gender, ethnic and racial subsets.

As someone posted upthread, the opinion shapers are wading too far into the demographic weeds on this issue and seem to be doing so in a very focused fashion.

We're seeing many characterizations of women voters during this election that we've not seen in previous elections:

uneducated

redneck

aging disenchanted feminists

blue collar (an odd one considering most blue collar jobs are male dominated; perhaps they mean "pink collar")

obese

low income

old/aging


I expect we'll see a lot more of this in coming weeks as the media and Obama campaign react more strongly to the core bloc of women voters who continue to turn out for Clinton.


Some interesting Google searches

Clinton "uneducated women" 3,930 hits

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=+Clinton%22uneducated+women%22+&btnG=Search

Obama "uneducated men" 682 hits

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=+Obama+%22uneducated+men%22+&btnG=Search

[dkf]

35. Found a compilation of exit polls

http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/exit-polls/income.html

http://www.pollster.com/blogs/exit_poll_data_education_and_r.php

[OzarkDem]

41. Thanks

I have to get to work, but I'm going to analyze these later. I suspect we're going to see many of these claims are unfounded.

Linking exit poll demographics with news media reporting is also showing some interesting things.

[varelse]

39. So, let me get this straight...

from looking at endless threads on the same subject, "crafted" by supporters of both the candidates... we, the unwashed, non-degreed voters... don't count as much as you, the college graduates? It's been said upthread, but I'll echo it - no wonder so many working class people are sick of the whole damn process.

[OzarkDem]

42. I agree with you

First, no one who doesn't have a college degree should EVER be referred to as uneducated. That's an unacceptable bias being seen in the media these days.

Its that media characterization of voters that somehow implies anyone without a college degree is somehow an inferior class of voter. They're not. Then, its the questionable linking of this condescending terminology to groups of voters - in this case women - that is the real problem.

Its one thing to see Republicans pulling this stuff, but Democrats should avoid it. Its not what we stand for.

[knixphan]

49. agreed

[Zhade]

78. That's why "low information voter" is so much more descriptive.

It takes into account the general lack of geopolitical awareness that allows people to, say, believe clinton ran from nonexistent sniper fire when it was in fact - and proven to be - a lie.

[goclark]

40. I agree with you ~ every voter has worth

and if every vote counts the same ~ what difference does it make.

It is unamerican to me to even discuss demographics.

For example, I am African American and they lump us together(male/female) and consider White Women a special breed.

What about Asian women,Latino women ~ we all have worth as "Women" too!


This is sexist!

[OzarkDem]

43. Agree, every voter is valuable

[zbdent]

44. maybe the "uneducated" and "downscale" voters is a reference to

the Rushbots who followed orders like a Pavlovian experiment?

[nichomachus]

47. Don't think that Clinton's pollsters don't slice and dice voters this way

Of course they do. This is how they segregate demographics. This is how they plan their attack ads and their negative ads. They target "uneducated" and "downscale" people -- and they can tell you just how many there are and where.

This is done all the time. The media picks up on it because they use the same pollsters are their consultants.

[anonymous171]

48. Uneducated, working class voters? You mean McCain's base?

[SeattleGirl]

51. The M$M is essentially full of shit.

I'm an Obama supporter, but I absolutely agree with you. Using terms like "uneducated" and "downscale" are inexcusable, and just flat-out lazy. Unfortunately, that seems to be the primary way they operate.

[BlooInBloo]

52. It's funny coming right after we saw Hicksylvania deliver a 9 point win to Clinton.

[Phillycat]

58. Oh, you mean these voters?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5647925

So, you're talking complete bollocks then? Yes, I thought so.

[Phillycat]

53. In addition to being offensive, it's also complete bullshit.

See my thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5647925

[Writer]

56. Never mind. n/t

[chascarrillo]

57. K&R. It is a disgusting and inaccurate portrayal of Clinton's support.

[goletian]

60. they dont say, "uneducated WHITE voters"

thanks for implying what you did, though. speaks volumes.

[ej510]

62. Black are not considered women or men educated or uneducated we are just black.

[goletian]

63. yep. thats that hillarian wisdom. - nt

[Shakespeare]

68. This OP has already had numerous racist posts (in various threads) deleted.

My alert button's about worn out. Not sure why she's still here, though.

[goletian]

70. i alerted instantly as well. glad to see im no tthe only one that notices this kind of crap. - nt

[barack the house]

67. The fact they mention color at all is a big issues to start with. It should be age and gender that's

all really. As the 2 sexes have vastly different perspectives.

[tritsofme]

69. When you are pulling in 90% of the vote in a certain demographic

Of course its going to get play in the media.

[Erin Elizabeth]

73. I would call her base extremely delusional at this point, though.

[Zhade]

74. The difference: "uneducated" isn't an inborn trait that's wrong to scorn, "black" (or any color) is.

I can't believe this has to be explained to anyone in this day and age.

[stillcool]

79. Maybe it is code for 'racist'