Republican Intellectuals: Voters are Polluting our Democracy

[marmar]

from OpenLeft:



Republican Intellectuals: Voters are Polluting our Democracy
by: tremayne
Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 22:14



It is becoming increasingly apparent, even to conservative bloggers, that Barack Obama is going to win. This is quite a shock to their senses. Black radical, extreme ultra liberal terrorist-loving Obama is going to take over the White House and bring his antichrist friends with him. Even more appalling, voters are just going along with this selling out of America like the ignorant masses they are.

That's right. Since attacks and smears against Obama have so far failed to do the job, conservatives are now taking their frustration to its logical conclusion: blaming our system of representative government. Basically their argument is this: Too many damn voters! Honestly, this is the argument and it's being advanced not by fringe lunatics like Michelle Malkin or Rush Limbaugh but people you think would know better. Details follow.

Yesterday, Will Wilkinson of the Cato Institute endorsed this view:

When enough people vote badly–from ignorance or bias, for example–the result is often bad policy. The quality of policy matters to the public good. Higher-quality democratic decisions, and better policy, can be secured if bad voters choose to abstain. Because the personal cost of not voting badly is so low, a public-spirited person shouldn’t do it. And it seems that a lot of people are quite likely to vote badly. So there are many people who, if they care about the common good, ought to choose not to vote.

I'll let you figure out what "voting badly" means in the context of the current election. But Wilkinson doesn't just agree with the view, advanced by Jason Brennan of Brown, he goes it one further: Voter registration efforts are immoral! The logic, as he says, is straightforward. I could paraphrase it to make it sound even more ridiculous but, like Sarah Palin's recent performances, the original is just as good bad:

Here’s how I explain the intensity of media propaganda about voter participation in cynical political economy terms. There are more Americans inclined to vote Democrat than Republican. But the poorer and younger Democratic-leaning voters are also least likely to show up at the polls. Therefore, promoting the idea that it is a civic/moral imperative to vote disproportionately benefits the Democratic party by getting higher levels of participation from the poorer and younger voters, at whom much of the marketing blitz is focused. And, of course, the American media establishment overwhelmingly favors the Democratic Party. However, higher levels of voting from these groups pretty much ensures greater electoral pollution.

Now this is deeply disturbing for a whole bunch of reasons you already know but I'll cover in a moment. You might console yourself that Wilkinson's pseudo-intellectual bullshit has a limited distribution but unfortunately he and Brennan discuss their deep concerns about the purity of American political discourse on Bloggingheads.TV which increases the scope of this nonsense. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8886

[Kazak]

1. Haha!

Voting badly = voting Republican

[nini]

2. In a way I agree -- "vote badly - from ignorance"

I think all the red state high school dropouts shouldn't be allowed to vote either and we all know who they vote for. :evilgrin:

[unpossibles]

3. man, the irony.... do they project everything they do?

From the question "why do you hate Freedom" to complaining about spending to complaining about low-information voters, it's like everything they complain about it what they're doing!

[daa]

4. OxyMoron alert

republican and intellectuals, does not compute.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. "When enough people vote badly–from ignorance or bias, for example–the result is often bad policy."

We sure saw that in 2000 and 2004 didn't we Will?

[Old and In the Way]

6. So, how to explain Republican candidates like George W. Bush or Sarah Palin?

If any Party panders to the baser instincts of our society, it is the Republican Party. If we made IQ minimums a requirement, they'd see a 90% drop in their voters.

[Caliman73]

7. Typical Republican bullshit

They project their fears onto everyone and think they are the mainstream. Republicans are the definition of hypocrisy. When it is them whipping up their idiot base into a voting frenzy, that is just "good politics". When Democrats get voter motivated to participate in choosing the leaders of the future it is "pollution". They need to do down.

[louis-t]

8. Typical, repugs HAVE to stop people from voting.

Well documented that the more people that vote, the worse repigs do.

[Subdivisions]

9. 'And, of course, the American media establishment overwhelmingly favors the Democratic Party.'???

The stupid, it hurts!

Also, "bad" voters are created by "bad" media.

[fed_up_mother]

10. So...they're acting Straussian.

Surprise. Surprise!

They believe they are morally superior and for that reason alone deserve to be running this country. It burns their butts that they actually have to campaign, so of course, they're in shock that they might lose.

[baldguy]

11. Smells like facism to me.

When they can't keep the electorate ignorant & with them, then they try and stop them from voting.

[rucky]

12. Democracy would work so much better without all those pesky voters. n/t