Banner "Show the Birth certificate"

[quinnox]

On a recent summer vacation we were driving on the freeway through a lot of rural areas in southern Oregon on our way to California.

On a stretch through one of these areas they had a big banner draped over the freeway overpass that said "Show the birth certificate".

Later on we stopped to get gas and when I walked into the kinda crumbling and decrepit store, they had fox news on and a lot of these people who well, looked like classic hicks were sitting around listening to it.

How come so many people in rural areas are republicans and usually ignorant ones at that?

[Political Heretic]

1. Because its the default position of ignorance.

Ignorance breeds selfishness, bias, fear, and resentment.... all the prefect characteristics for republicanism.

[TygrBright]

2. Lotta Foxsuckers out there in the weeds. n/t

[davidpdx]

3. Must be something that was put up recently

I drove through that area quite a bit recently and didn't see it. Do you remember where it was?

Also keep in mind that Jackson County (which is in Southern Oregon) actually went for Obama, so not all of that area is bad.

[CreekDog]

5. Ashland and Medford are ok

not so hot outside though. :hi:

[quinnox]

6. This was around a month ago.

I can't remember exactly where it was but it was somewhere in the extreme southern end of Oregon.

[Czar One]

9. Extreme southern Oregon?

Well, you know, southern Oregon is a lot like northern California (once you get up past Sacramento): Reagan Country all the way!

[davidpdx]

12. Must have been east of Medford

When I think of "Southern Oregon" I think of the area west of Klamath Falls all the way to the ocean. The rest of the southern part of the state if the fucking boonies.

[sandnsea]

14. lol,

True about the fucking boonies.

Not necessarily true about the sign being east of Medford.

We were in Elkton last year and ran across a huge Ron Paul sign. South of Reedsport, you never know what you'll hit from pocket to pocket. Some of them vote strongly Democratic at the very local level and then balk at the Presidency, just like many other rural areas in America. Some of them are just flat out nuts. Never can tell.

[Undercurrent]

4. Oops!

I accidental clicked unrec. Sorry. :blush:

I know what you are saying is generally true. I live in a very rural area, and in stark contrast to the many artists and crafts people who've moved hear, the "natives" tend to be right wingeers who slurp up Faux news, Beck and that whole craziness. Thank god the new folks out number the old timers making this a very blue area. I grew up in this town, but am a painter and silversmith, so I know folks on both ends of the spectrum. Sadly, the wingnuts firmly entrenched in their world view.

[sandnsea]

7. Logging, farming, mining, fishing

It has to do with how they make their living for the most part. A combination of trying to protect their livelihood along with various farm aid that ended up putting them out of business. Along with a healthy dose of racism and clannism.

I can think of a couple of small towns down here that would have that banner up. I don't go to those places, lol.

[jimmyflint]

11. You nailed it.

Throw in a huge helping of churches and god too. Many rural people are self reliant and don't like any government intrusion even when it is an obvious benefit to them.

[sandnsea]

13. Yes churchism too

And yes they think if the government would just stop taking everybody's money then people could afford to take care of themselves. Of course, the very existence of bankruptcy laws makes it clear that that was never true, but that always happens to "somebody else".

When we needed more money for our school district, quite a number of people said we just need to log more. Well, uhm... log what??

They just don't want to deal with changing so they prefer to deny that there's any reason to change.

[provis99]

8. rural people have a lack of cultural exposure and different viewpoints.

When you grow up in a town of 200 people where you're related to half of them, they tend to share identical ideas, and don't get much exposure to the possibility that other people might have better ideas of how to do things. So the default position is the lowest common denominator of ignorance.

[Politicalboi]

10. In the 90's

On our way to Oregon we saw a sign to Impeach Clinton. I think it was on the Ca side. We only went as far as Grants Pass.