Things I don't get about US political culture

[mammador]

As a non-American, this new Romney furore has made me chuckle.

Why do Americans presume their politicians must be whiter than white and pure? Granted, past indiscretions should be accounted for, depending on severity perhaps.

But it seems people actively seek to dig up information on candidates, just to the end of smearing them. it's kind of like "eek! Romney worked in a restaurant as a youngster and forgot to wash his hands after returning from the bathroom! he's unfit to be president!!!" or some such inanity.

Is it because the US is still largely a conservative (socially, not politically) society?

 

[cybrsage]

It is because both sides are trying to find as much dirt on the other side as they can to show why their candidate is better...by showing the other candidate is worse.

The stupid things like Obama eating dogs and Romney having an offshore bank account only really matter to people who are already fully entrenched in the views of the side making the silly accusation.

 

[alzan]

That's part of it. The other part that you touched on is that as much as we love to find or create new heroes to put up on pedestals; we love tearing them down and burying them much more.

It's a constant cycle between the extremes of ultra-high self esteem individuals and those of low self esteem.

 

[thraashman]

In the end American politics is all about going after the undecided voter. A lot of people are ALWAYS going to vote one way or the other. For example, on this board, I think it'd be safe to say spidey would never vote Democrat. It's also probably safe to say that Craig would never vote Republican. But then you have people like Anarchist420 who would vote for Ron Paul if he were on the ballot. But since it's a pretty much guarantee Ron Paul won't be on the ballot, politicians are vying not just for Anarchist's vote, but they're vying to actually convince him to still vote when he doesn't particularly like either option (yes, yes I'm aware Anarchist will most likely be voting Gary Johnson, but lets pretend he wasn't an option).

Sorry if those mentioned feel I misrepresented them but I tried to pick people whose apparent political leaning are solidly in place.

 

[CaptainGoodnight]

No, it sort of began when the two parties stopped going out and drinking with each other. Easier to form a consensus with somebody you like and respect. Both sides spend more time demonizing the other and talking past each other instead of at each other.

Actually here is a really engaging lecture about civility and American politics. About 25 min long.

http://vimeo.com/20256014

 

[mect]

This is something I wonder about as an American. We like to sit and talk about how shitty all of our candidates are, but in reality, essentially anyone you exposed to the level of scrutiny these people get would be considered a shitty candidate. I mean, we take people with degrees from Harvard (both Obama and Romney), people that have been extremely successful in their lives, and we try to convince everyone that these people are stupid, arrogant, out of touch, whatever will convince someone not to vote for that candidate. I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person, but if someone was scrutinizing every word I said and everything I've ever done, I'm sure they could make me look like a clueless, unethical dumb ass as well. We set up this game, and now we bitch when the politicians play it.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

The main complaint most people have against Romney is he has no real viable business experience other than buying successful companies and running them into the ground while paying himself tens of millions of dollars in salary. See Kay Bee Toys for the primary example of his business practices.

The main complaint against Obama is he is a socialist who wants to spend our economy into oblivion, and he is black (partially appears to be enough lol). Despite the insanity that people on the right will sell you, our country has improved with him in office and government spending is what pulled us out of this trouble 100 years ago, so all this talk about pulling back on government spending seems pretty absurd if you follow history at all....sadly most people don't. As far as him being black being an issue for some of his detractors, that would have to be pretty obvious to anyone.

 

[werepossum]

The main complaint most people have against Romney is he has no real viable business experience other than buying successful companies and running them into the ground while paying himself tens of millions of dollars in salary. See Kay Bee Toys for the primary example of his business practices.

The main complaint against Obama is he is a socialist who wants to spend our economy into oblivion, and he is black (partially appears to be enough lol). Despite the insanity that people on the right will sell you, our country has improved with him in office and government spending is what pulled us out of this trouble 100 years ago, so all this talk about pulling back on government spending seems pretty absurd if you follow history at all....sadly most people don't. As far as him being black being an issue for some of his detractors, that would have to be pretty obvious to anyone.

Have to admit I don't follow history enough to remember the great government bailout of 1912. Hell, I couldn't - I don't even read idiot.

 

[MovingTarget]

I disagree that we expect our candidates to be "whiter than white" or "purer than pure". Most Americans are willing to excuse a lot of past misdeeds of our leaders provided that they express a healthy amount of regret and contrition for their acts. Simply saying how they were wrong, what they learned from the experience, and how they wouldn't repeat it in the future commands a higher degree of respect. The problem is that it is not an easy road to travel down.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Have to admit I don't follow history enough to remember the great government bailout of 1912. Hell, I couldn't - I don't even read idiot.

Yeah ignore all the points and point out that the period I am talking about started actually 17 years later than the blanket 100 year figure I gave which was obviously not intended to be an exact date. Oh I forgot, it's all about the details because God forbid anyone hear the actual message.

 

[Rainsford]

It is because both sides are trying to find as much dirt on the other side as they can to show why their candidate is better...by showing the other candidate is worse.

The stupid things like Obama eating dogs and Romney having an offshore bank account only really matter to people who are already fully entrenched in the views of the side making the silly accusation.

This is exactly the reason you see this kind of "story" in political campaigns. It's basically about providing red meat for one group or another...nobody is ever convinced of anything by this crap. It's also a symptom of there having to be 24 hours of "news" whether anything important is happening or not.

 

[bfdd]

The silly shit is all dog and pony show for the masses who already chose their side. Shit Romney isn't even the fucking candidate yet and it's been Romney vs Obama for months now. HELLO THERE ARE OTHER FUCKING CANDIDATES OUT THERE!!! Thankfully the internet exists and as more and more information is available things will change. Just don't expect it in your life time. Nothing "great" ever happens during your life time.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

The silly shit is all dog and pony show for the masses who already chose their side. Shit Romney isn't even the fucking candidate yet and it's been Romney vs Obama for months now. HELLO THERE ARE OTHER FUCKING CANDIDATES OUT THERE!!! Thankfully the internet exists and as more and more information is available things will change. Just don't expect it in your life time. Nothing "great" ever happens during your life time.

And trust me the people going through it don't think it is so great at all.

 

[bononos]

As a non-American, this new Romney furore has made me chuckle.

Why do Americans presume their politicians must be whiter than white and pure? Granted, past indiscretions should be accounted for, depending on severity perhaps.
............ Is it because the US is still largely a conservative (socially, not politically) society?

You have a point, a social commentator said that Americans don't have a hereditary ruling class so proper moral conduct is a fitness gauge for someone running for a political office.

 

[Jhhnn]

The stupid things like Obama eating dogs and Romney having an offshore bank account only really matter to people who are already fully entrenched in the views of the side making the silly accusation.

Standard false equivalency of the Right. Being served dog as a child is in no way equivalent to being an uber rich offshoring tax weasel who employs byzantine accounting methods.

Attempting to dismiss both in the same breath is laughable.

 

[IGBT]

liberals love dictators and the obama fulfills the liberal centralized fed.dictator agenda. Fear/envy/class warfare/utopian tyranny are the tools of the dictator. The obama and his willing accomplices employ and deploy them all. He can't run on his record of lies and deceptions. His only choice is scorched earth negative.

 

[a777pilot]

What we need are more politicians like Ron Reagan and Tip O'Neil. More importantly we need more politicians that respect each other and can work together....without stepping on their principles.

Strange system we have but it seems to work.

 

[Rainsford]

What we need are more politicians like Ron Reagan and Tip O'Neil. More importantly we need more politicians that respect each other and can work together....without stepping on their principles.

Strange system we have but it seems to work.

I think those days are over. Modern political coverage is almost entirely shrill pundits yelling about how the other side is evil/retarded and how they're absolutely destroying the country, either on purpose or through incompetence. The spread of that attitude makes it pretty much impossible for anyone to work with the other side for fear of being labeled an enemy collaborator. If Democrats and Republicans simply disagreed on the best course of action, they could work out their differences. But if they see each other as Batman villains, that's much more difficult.

Actual statesmen do exist, but they're either shouted down or actively destroyed. Look at how Dick Lugar, famous for his willingness to reach across the aisle to Democrats. He was successfully targeted for defeat in the 2012 primary by the Tea Party folks SPECIFICALLY because he was willing to work with Democrats. That's how politics mainly works today, with party loyalty being prized above all else.

 

[unokitty]

As a non-American, this new Romney furore has made me chuckle.

Why do Americans presume their politicians must be whiter than white and pure? Granted, past indiscretions should be accounted for, depending on severity perhaps.

But it seems people actively seek to dig up information on candidates, just to the end of smearing them. it's kind of like "eek! Romney worked in a restaurant as a youngster and forgot to wash his hands after returning from the bathroom! he's unfit to be president!!!" or some such inanity.

Is it because the US is still largely a conservative (socially, not politically) society?

In 1994, Peter Drucker said:

"Increasingly, politics is not about "who gets what, when, how" but about values, each of them considered to be absolute. Politics is about "the right to life"...It is about the environment. It is about gaining equality for groups alleged to be oppressed...None of these issues is economic. All are fundamentally moral."


Uno

 

[a777pilot]

In 1994, Peter Drucker said:

"Increasingly, politics is not about "who gets what, when, how" but about values, each of them considered to be absolute. Politics is about "the right to life"...It is about the environment. It is about gaining equality for groups alleged to be oppressed...None of these issues is economic. All are fundamentally moral."


Uno

Then that would explain why the Democrats have a problem. They have no morals. In fact if it were not for the double standard the Democrats would have no standards at all.

 

[Orignal Earl]

liberals love dictators

Then that would explain why the Democrats have a problem. They have no morals.

Libs hate america.
Libs always find faults with america and rip it apart.*
They also hate success.

I think most of the R's here have a problem with reality.
They can only see things at extremes

edit- added in another quote

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

As a non-American, this new Romney furore has made me chuckle.

Why do Americans presume their politicians must be whiter than white and pure? Granted, past indiscretions should be accounted for, depending on severity perhaps.

But it seems people actively seek to dig up information on candidates, just to the end of smearing them. it's kind of like "eek! Romney worked in a restaurant as a youngster and forgot to wash his hands after returning from the bathroom! he's unfit to be president!!!" or some such inanity.

Is it because the US is still largely a conservative (socially, not politically) society?

Depends on what they are digging up. Much of it silly certainly, but when a candidate is specifically highlighting a part of his past as part of his suitability for the job then don't you think the media have an obligation to investigate that past?

 

[Rainsford]

Then that would explain why the Democrats have a problem. They have no morals. In fact if it were not for the double standard the Democrats would have no standards at all.

I like how you follow up your post about how we need politicians who can work together with a post about how Democrats are cartoon bad guys.

 

[a777pilot]

I like how you follow up your post about how we need politicians who can work together with a post about how Democrats are cartoon bad guys.

LOL!

I was wondering if anyone would catch that.

I couldn't resist.

 

[fskimospy]

LOL!

I was wondering if anyone would catch that.

I couldn't resist.

But it's not like this is a one time thing for you, you fairly consistently demonize Democrats. I'm sure you genuinely pine for the days of greater political compromise while hating Democrats the whole while without any feelings of internal inconsistency. It's pretty amazing to behold.