Woefully uninformed.

[LiberalAndProud]

My nephew dropped in last night just before the debate started. We chatted back and forth for a while, then the conversation turned to politics.

Bobby: I'm a Republican but I'm not voting for McCain and I won't vote for Obama so I'm going to vote for the other guy.

LiberalAndProud: Barr?

Bobby: Whatever the other guy's name is.

Liberal: Why won't you vote for Obama? Because he's a Democrat?

Bobby: No. He just keeps talking about change, You just can't make big changes in only four years.

Liberal: So we shouldn't try to change anything because there's not enough time?

Bobby: I don't like his vice presidential pick.

Liberal: Biden?

Bobby: No Hillary. She doesn't know anything.

Liberal: Boddy, I'm embarrassed for you. I am really embarrassed for you.

Bobby: Why? I thought it was Hillary.

Liberal: Biden. He announced that Biden is his running mate.

Bobby: See? I just don't pay any attention.

Liberal: I'm really pissed about the wallstreet bailout.

Bobby: There's a wallstreet bailout? What are you talking about?


The conversation went on like that for a while. I scolded him for not paying attention and voting for a brand. I informed him that his fiscally conservative party has borrowed more money under Bush than all the previous presidents before him combined. I told him that if something doesn't CHANGE, we are in deep trouble. Maybe I gave him something to think about, but it's clear he isn't spending much time thinking.


(This story is true. Some names have been changed to protect the ignorant.)

[tosh]

1. How old is your nephew?

[LiberalAndProud]

10. He's 18, and not atypical of those in his age bracket who are

born and raised in rural Nebraska. Folks don't talk politics, they just vote Republican. No thinking required. No facts required.

I was glad to hear him tell me that most of his friends weren't voting for McCain either. Maybe Barr will win this state.

[tosh]

15. There is hope! Good that he has you to open his eyes and his mind.

I also read your post 13 below. I think he's impressed with your knowledge & will probably come back for more. I'll bet he starts to "notice" things before Nov. 4.

[NOLALady]

2. Do you think

he got HRC confused with Sarah Palin?

[LiberalAndProud]

11. No, He really thought Clinton was Obama's running mate.

[av8rdave]

3. Sadly, I think "Bobby" is more typical of a lot of voters than we would care to admit

[Jackpine Radical]

8. And furthermore, those voters are almost always more responsive to RW nonsense.

They can get their little minds wrapped around two-word ideas like "Bomb Iran," even if they nave no clue about where Iran is or why we should bomb it. They always want taxes lowered too--maybe trying to give the impression that they actually make enough for income tax rates to matter to them.

[liberalmuse]

4. Wow.

I wish people like that didn't vote, but they do. In large numbers. It's hard for us political junkies to understand someone who is not interested in politics, but I've had too many conversations like you've just posted with people claiming to be die hard Republicans, and it is very disconcerting.

[Bicoastal]

5. Wow, every single time he opens his mouth...

...he proves how ill-informed he is.

[CitizenLeft]

6. that reminds me of that voter on the street who was asked...

...who Barack Obama's running mate is. "Sarah Palin?"

Uh, no.

I hope your nephew stayed and watched the debate with you? That would be a start.

[LiberalAndProud]

16. He stayed for a while.

I was hoping the same thing. He left in the middle to get back to campus for a late supper. I hope that a seed was planted, but Nov. may be too early for germination. I'm content enough that he's voting "for the other guy".

[CitizenLeft]

19. "the other guy"

LOL, Barr or Nader?

If people are ever going to get interested in politics, this is the year. I've never seen such drama and suspense and controversy and excitement in all my life. It's like watching a soap opera, or rooting for your team to get to the World Series or Super Bowl against your most hated rival. I wanted Kerry to win, and Gore, and on backward through to Carter, but I've never seen anything like this campaign season.

[JSK]

7. Has he ever talked to Jay Leno

on Melrose Ave?

[itsrobert]

9. Are you sure he wasn't playing games with you

??

[LiberalAndProud]

13. No. He was serious.

He asked me if I was really into politics. I told him that I am a political junkie.

He said, boy I bet you even know where they're from. I said, yes I do. McCain is from Arizona and Obama is from Illionis --Chicago, but you knew that.

Wow. I bet you even know when they were born. I told him that McCain is 72 and I believe Obama is 46. "Wow," he said.

He was absolutely, 100% serious.

[sandnsea]

12. Why we have to double efforts in red states

A lot of people just "vote for the brand", or rather vote against what Democrats have been branded as.

[LiberalAndProud]

14. I firmly believe if we could simply start having conversations

about politics in this state, we would be able to change minds. There is a cultural maxim in place here. It is unspoken, but very real, that it is not polite to talk politics. As soon as a point of disagreement is discovered, the conversation ends, because it's the polite thing.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. That's interesting because

here on the east coast, Nebraska and Iowa are often projected as if they were joined at the hip. But apparently outside of their geographic proximity, that is not the case (at least in the current economic environment). It seems that Iowa now "gets it" and has become increasingly more progressive. I think perhaps the loss of Maytag in Iowa, woke some folks up.

[LiberalAndProud]

18. Nebraska is "Where the West Begins"

That was the state slogan while I was growing up. We seem to be more closely aligned in political views with Wyoming or Colorado, rather than Iowa.