Overheard in my small town's diner. Disappointing.

[mac56]

Small town diner, outstate Minnesota. I walked out feeling plenty disillusioned, based on the conversations heard all around me. To wit:

(1) The deregulation that caused the financial collapse? They blame it on Democrats.
(2) They thought it was Bush-bashing to lay this at his feet.
(3) One guy wanted to "string up" Barney Frank and Chris Dodd becaue of the bailout; another guy said "hang 'em on a couple of crosses."
(4) They thought Sarah Palin was as cute as a button in the debate. They were impressed with how down to earth she was, and how honest: "She's got more on the ball than Obama and McCain combined."

And each one of them is gonna vote, bless their hearts.

Quick, please; give me a reason to believe. Or not to move to Canada.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Pointless post

Get a therapist.

[mac56]

8. thank you ever so much

Welcome to my ignore list.

[Jackeens]

14. Pointless response.

The OP heard what he/she heard, why not offer some reassurance instead of a dismissive response?

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. More like a pointless reply

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. I thought the point of the reply was fairly clear, actually

:rofl:

[Jackeens]

22. It was....

....nasty and smart-arsed. Well done you - do you want a medal?

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. I was going for

dismissive and contemptuous, but I'll take nasty and smart-assed as well.

Please send donations to the Obama campaign in lieu of awards.

:rofl:

[Jackeens]

30. By your tone I reckon....

...you're as devoted to Obama as you are to civility.

And, um, original smilies......:rofl:

[Coexist]

39. oooh, dissin' the smilies

so uncool.

[Jackeens]

41. Uncooler than...

...sneering at a genuine Democrat upset by what he/she heard today? Oh yeah, that's cool alright.

[Coexist]

43. I didn't realize you would take that seriously

my apologies for my attempt at humor that so obviously failed.

[Jackeens]

45. Well...

...I'm a humour-packed gal (apologies for the European spelling), but if I was inclined to own an Uzi...which I'm not, honest....I would use it on DUers who **** on the real concerns of genuine Democrats, simply because they haven't the brains to realise the level of ignorance Obama is up against. Maybe sneering is cool, but it doesn't win elections. Smilie alert: ;-).

[liberalpress]

40. Congrats you've made my ignore list, too

have a nice day

[ingac70]

2. .....

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/30070414.html

[Muttocracy]

10. exactly. nt

[sandnsea]

3. Stupid is as stupid does

Nobody ever said we were going to stamp out stupidity in one election cycle.

[Muttocracy]

4. a lot of people will pay attention to things like gas prices and unemployment statistics

when nothing else will get through to them. The statistics are ALL on the side for needing change.

[truedelphi]

29. Never underestimate the utter stupidity of the majority of Americans

It used to be the N&%%#$s

Anything that went wrong in the "decent" and lily white side of town was the fault of those with darker colored skins.

Now it is all the fault of the Dems.

[Snotcicles]

5. Quit eating in the sewer. nt

[holiday]

6. I keep getting that Dodd was in bed with Freddie Mac and Fannie

Surpisingly no one has said anything to me about the vp debate.

[mchill]

7. These are the believers....

do not despair. They constitute Bush's loyal base. Nothing will change with them. It's the swing voters I would be eavesdropping on!

[villager]

9. I can swap ya for snatches of conversation here at my L.A. coffee shop...

..if you wanna... ;-)

[stolivodka]

11. Eat at better diners.

Stupid people aren't going away, even after Obama wins, sorry.

[Jersey Devil]

12. anecdotal concern, a bit different, but

still just as ridiculous

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. Watch out...this concern is armed with an ignore feature

:rofl:

[dorktv]

13. How long do you think they have spent really being open minded and

learning (not with the news but with serious books and articles in high quaility journals) about finances?

Maybe they simply have never been exposed to what has really happened in the financial sector-and they instead have to relie on the TV News which never goes indepth on anything.

[cali]

16. really? you base whether or not things are going well for the dems

on what you overhear in the local diner? Ridiculous. Get a fucking grip. Obama is up by an average of almost 8 pts in the national polls. And oh yeah, he'll win in your state too.

[Danger Mouse]

18. Small towns are breeding grounds for ignorance. That is all.

[glowing]

20. Seriously, let's just divide the country.. I'll live in the land of brains..

and the fundies and pukes can live on the other... and the fundies can pray to their god, hoping for rapture as they serve in slavery.

[truedelphi]

31. I'm with you - Did you know that the island nation of Hawai'i

Voted overwhelmingly for Kucinich.

if only Global warming and oceans rising weren't a real concern.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for spending the "end times" in a land of hulas, orchids and luauas :-)

[rvablue]

21. Yes, each of the is going to vote

and they've probably never voted for a Democrat in their life, including when we did win the White House.

Dont' worry about bottom feeders like this.

[Hellataz]

23. One group of people does not represent the entire state.

I'm sure there are just as many or more Minnesota democrats discussing the opposite.

[Union Thug]

24. Dereg - Democrats? Holy crap.

Maybe DLC Dems support some of it, but this is has been a conservative stronghold position since forever. Raygun amped it up and here we are!

Idiots.

[elleng]

37. I beg to differ;

'deregulation' is a bi-partisan/polar disorder; has been forever. Remember Alfred Kahn?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Kahn

[Union Thug]

44. Well there's no disputing that some of this kool-aid drinking

started under Carter. You're right. But by and large, deregulation, 'free market' capitalism is and has been a conservative economic mantra. Perhaps I should have used the terms liberal, progressive and conservative rather than democrat and repuplican.

[tpi10d]

26. you're listening to the republican base

There's a hard base of 25% (Bush approval rating)
A firm base of 40% (McCain's minimum margin in the polls).

US politics circa 2008. As of today's polling approx 50 out of 100 are likely to vote for Obama, and 42 out of a 100 likely to vote McCain. Roughly 8 people out of a 100 difference.

[Wapsie B]

27. People like this will see what they want to see.

It's so much easier for some to continue on with their narrow belief systems rather than confront the fact they've been living a lie. Some will not question their beliefs at all, politically or personally. It's much too painful for them. That's why the rwingers have made it so easy for the flock. Just sit down and turn on the tv or radio and they're instantly told what to think by talk radio and Faux News.

[Juche]

28. Welcome to my world

Despite the GOP being the party of deregulation, despite them controlling congress (and all the committees on it) for 12 years, despite Bush's pushing 'the ownership society', my dad thinks this is all the democrats fault. Its amazing how the republicans abandon that 'personality responsibility' crap and always find a way to blame the democrats.

I take comfort in this simple fact. Not everyone in this country is an idiot. Alot are, but alot are not. And the more and more the GOP becomes the party of openly stupid people, the more it scares the hell out of everyone who isn't already a GOP zombie. There is a reason people have been abandoning the GOP in droves and the more incompetent, indifferent to reality and dangerously naive they become, the more who are paying attention and aren't already diehard GOP voters will abandon ship.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/773/fewer-voters-identify-as-republicans

The republicans have arguably lost an entire generation of voters (the millenials, who make up 25% of the electorate and are voting democratic by 25% margins), in part due to this level of frightening and willful ignorance.

Sometimes after talking to my family and seeing how callously uninformed they are I immediately donate money to voter registration drives trying to register democratic voters to neutralize their votes.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. there are many places with in this country that you can move to

where you would NEVER encounter such stupidity

[Levgreee]

33. You expect there to be no idiots you meet? You'd meet them in Canada too.

Don't assume too much, from just a couple of people. It is not logical to lose hope from hearing them speak.

[VolcanoJen]

34. Certainly not my experience at my workplace... a bar in Ohio.

My favorite barstool comment the night of the debate?

"Stop winking at me!!! I'm not gonna tip you!!!"

:rofl:

[ebdarcy]

35. Cheer up. Those are the dumb republicans that we never had a chance with.

It's not like Minnesota was going to go 100% for Obama. So those voters are going to be the ones who would've voted for McCain anyway. Seriously, people who are talking about stringing someone up were never going to vote democratic. Really, it'll be okay.

[IndianaGreen]

36. They obviously prefer barbarism!

"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism."

Friedrich Engels

[Bluenorthwest]

38. The 30% gotta eat somewhere....

Reason to believe: Franken's numbers in your great State.
Reason not to move to Canada: Exchange rate. Celine Dione. Price of smokes. Lack of good tortillas. That's all I got, Canada is great and hard to knock.

[ladywnch]

42. Calgary, Alberta is a nice place to live n/t