My "liberal' Friend has never heard of D. Kucinich!

[Bennyboy]

e sent me an amil with info about the Imagine peace day comng up this week. I sent him back the video that was here today with DK supporting the project and the tower.

My friend called me and asked who he was!


Now my friend is extremely liberal, anti-Bush anti-war etc. But he works, comes home, flips on the TV, drinks a couple of beers, fights with the wife and does not get any more involved than that. Gets his news from the TV too.

So I am figuring that he is like most of America. Sad.

[burrowowl]

1. Unfortunately he is like most of America

I met a woman who was Liberal but had no idea who the Denm canidates were!

[Bennyboy]

2. That is sickening.....

My friend told me he is for Hillary and really wants Gore to run.

[never_get_over_it]

8. I hope to God you set him straight

if he is truly "liberal" hopefully he will get more informed about Hillary before he votes in the primary.....I'm working on my sister who is not extrememly liberal - actually she isn't even sort of liberal - and supports Hillary....I'm not likely to change her mind....but I'm sure as hell going to try....

[MrMickeysMom]

3. Excuse me, but how can this guy be a "liberal"?

.... By my definition, a liberal is one who takes more than one point of view, may argue about it, may change their mind about it, but regardless of the doubt of his/her ways, WEIGHS the evidence and draws evidence from various points of view.

This guys sounds like most of the idiots who just happen to be Democrats cause their mom and pop were. They're haven't quite gotten to that point in their life where they both to ask very dep questions, much less participate, they just check in, cash the check and disengage.

By the way, I don't think most of America are the same way, just not as well informed as all of us smarties at DU seem to be

;-)

[Bennyboy]

6. compared to most people I know....

he is more involved in politics than any of them. It is time, simply. He works his 8-10 hours a day and does not have time for anything else.

[MrMickeysMom]

7. Yeah, but you said=

... he works, comes home, flips on the TV, drinks a couple of beers,

Surely he could catch a glimpse of DK? Maybe he doesn't have cable, eh?

[fujiyama]

18. Even if you have cable

that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be exposed to Kucinich, unless you watch the debates and are actively following the primaries. Also, since he is not a top tier candidate, coverage of him, even on cable, is limited.

This is what is so stupid about our primary system - people just assume "the party" will choose the candidate. Many don't realize that they can actually vote for the nominee and get involved in the process earlier on...

And considering that wages and benefits are being cut, people are busting their asses working 8-10 hours every day. It's tough to find the motivation to do a whole lot after a day of work.

[MrMickeysMom]

21. Good point..

I guess I'm frustrated, too. I work different hours, and I can't find anything but Olberman on cable for "all news", but even he is "Hillary saturated".

I actually phoned and complained last week because our newspaper was non-inclusive on how much $ the candidates raised. It took 10 minutes of conversation to convince the local print to mention everyone, regardless of conventional wisdom on who is up front. I can't believe I had to convince the guy of this, as he is on the political "beat", and his his friggen JOB, for Christ sake.

[Harper_is_Bush]

16. Because he's not wired.

It's irresponsible of you to equate a lack of information exposure as being the negative things you describe.

The point of this thread is don't judge people by your own standards, and assume everyone has access to what you access.

[MrMickeysMom]

17. No, the point of this thread is the conversation that the OP started,

which has nothing to do with the swing you just took.

Honestly, if a person described as watching TV everyday, but not knowing who DK is, it's fair that a follow up question (with consideratin to a possible answer) would be to question it. Television, even in the US on non-cable offers acess to knowing the candidates. There is no reason why a person who comes home, drinks a few beers and watches the tube can't do this. However, to be fair, after I ask that question, I joked to us "smarties" on DU with an icon of a wink.

Apparently, it's okay for you to tell people how wrong they are when they discuss how informed people should be. Nothing negative about this thread, but your comment so far... Take your own advice and don't judge, please.

[undeterred]

4. Well, its not like the mass media covers him

and for anyone who isn't really looking for this stuff, I doubt they could name more than 3 Dem candidates: Clinton, Obama, Edwards

[saltpoint]

5. He probably never will, either, if he watches ABC News.

Maybe give your friend some links to DU, Jim Lehrer's NewsHour, KOS, The Nation, the Village Voice, plus a handful of sharp-minded columinists like Frank Rich and Bob Herbert, and so forth. That ought to put him in the picture pretty quickly.

[Bennyboy]

11. I can't even get him to watch the Daily Show......

I try to give him some stuff, But I don't really want to get him thinking I am too "out there". I have been know to piss people off with my all politics all the time beliefs...So I gotta go slow. I explained who DK was and sent him his website...SO now maybe he knows.....

I did forget to mention that he works with repukes that listen to Rushbo all day every day. And they are his booses so he can't say change the fucking station man...(once I was in Home Depot and a vendor was listening to him and I went to management of the HD and told them I did not appreciate having politics on loud while I shopped. The manager told the guy to turn tht shit off!)

[saltpoint]

29. Good for you at the Home Depot there.

Nicely done.

[Harper_is_Bush]

9. What does the "D" stand for? n/t

[Swamp Rat]

10. I have met people in Louisiana that thought Reagan was still president

or did not know who was the current president or did not know the capital of Louisiana. x(

[fujiyama]

19. Wow...that's incredible..like they're living in a time warp!

Are you serious though? They didn't know Reagan had died? It stuns me to think anyone could be THAT clueless.

[Swamp Rat]

20. As a heart attack.

Now, I'm mostly talking about people NORTH of New Orleans, way up north in the South. :D

Hello uncle-dad!

[fujiyama]

23. LOL, OK it doesn't so much surprise me that they don't know he died

but what do they think happened over the past 19 years? After all, we've had THREE presidents after Reagan left office!

[Swamp Rat]

25. There are people in LA who are bussed to polls and told what buttons to punch.

"Push this big red button if you love Jeebus!" ..... reality is sometimes stranger than fiction.

[DemBones DemBones]

12. The media have their orders to marginalize Dennis again

and push Clinton, Obama, and maybe Edwards. I think Obama was supposed to be Howard Dean this year and provide early excitement, and Clinton to be John Kerry, but either Obama didn't play well enough or they just said "What the hell, we know we have to push for Clinton in the end so why mess around?"

Chances are they'll push for the GOP nominee to win or, if Hillary is the Dem, they may push for her and when she loses they can say, sadly, with crocodile tears, "We were wrong, the country wasn't ready for a woman in the White House."

Or maybe she'll be allowed to win and then everything that goes wrong will be an excuse to analyze what a man would have done in the situation.

I really hate the media today. We used to have a free press. We used to have real elections, too, I think, though I'm no longer sure about that.

[Bennyboy]

13. I am sure we do not have free elections.......

My friend, on theother hand, has no idea about how the repukes cheated in 2000, and 2004 and how they have already cheated for 2008.

[daninthemoon]

14. I love Saturday Night Live and Amy Pohler, but I sure wish they

hadn't chosen her to portray Kucinich anytime it comes up. It's funny, but this situation is a bit too serious for them to further marginalize him, too.

[zalinda]

15. Most people don't know who Edwards is, either

The media covers who the media wants to cover, period.

zalinda

[fujiyama]

22. This is probably very common

and very unfortunate.

I think there are many that simply don't know they can participate in the political system or don't care or don't have the time. As you said, he works 8-10 hours, goes home and probably has the motivation for little else - and passes out on the couch watching sports or some sitcom. Maybe he'll watch a few minutes of the news - and likely local news at that following the sports game or TV show. As we know national news coverage is bad enough as it is, filled with enough propaganda, but local news is largely fluff - covering a few local crime stories (if you live in a metro area), weather, sports, and some other bullshit stories - there may be one or two national stories.

But your friend has the basic understanding that Bush is an idiot and full of shit and that the war is a disaster. As you mentioned, Jon Stewart is usually a good way to break people into politics, but often time it requires some prior understanding of current events.

[LoZoccolo]

24. Does he like to smoke a lot of weed? n/t

[Bennyboy]

26. No he does not smoke...I do though....

[Beerboy]

27. I wouldn't be too disappointed by it,

and I'd say you figure correctly about most Americans, who couldn't name the Vice President, their U.S. Senators or what congressional district they reside in.
If he's liberal and he votes, what's wrong w/ that?

[ecstatic]

28. I never heard of him until around 2003...

Saw him giving a great speech on C-Span... I was like, hey, I like that guy! Who is that?

ETA: Without C-SPAN and DU, I doubt I'd know who Kucinich is either, that wouldn't make me any less liberal. Kucinich, unfortunately, is more of a web phenomenon.