Remember: our rules allow pointed disagreement, but require respectful discussion.
--
Kevin Trainor responded:
> Jordan Kushner speculates:
>
> 2) "Race" is a big factor. As too the latter factor, I
> suggest that many "liberals" and "conservatives" as reflected in the
> poll are basing their opinions more an race than on substance. There
> does not seem to be such reason for so many conservatives to be so
> opposed to the Mayor. She has supported whatever business interests
> want,
>
>
> Which business interests, Jordan? Most Republicans are small
> business owners and entrpreneurs, who haven't benefited from these
> subsidies. If they aren'r entrepreneurs, they're salarymen who don't
> benefit from whatever tax breaks and favors are doled out to the big
> businesses.
I don't know of any survery, but I will accept that a significant number
of Repbulicans are business owners and entrepeneurs, and that many
people in those categories oppose the Mayor because they pay for but do
not benefit from the favors doled out to big business. But there also
must be Republicans and conservatives who enthusiastically supported
Bush/Cheney whose overwhelming purpose is to dole out favors to the
wealthiest people and corporations. Why would these people like
Bush/Cheney, but despise the Mayor who has not met a corporate favor or
subsidized luxury housing proposal she does not like? Give me an
alternative explanation to the color of her skin.
>
> and has placed a great emphasis on "law and order" ranging from
>
> policies such as CODEFOR to making her own drug busts.
>
>
> Color me unimpressed. Crime may have gone down in the last eight
> years, but in my personal experience it's just gone down the block.
No argument. The Mayor's crime fighting policies have been so effective
in getting rid of crime in low income neighborhoods that the Mayor can
purchase drugs whenever she wants the publicity. I suggest that most
Republicans and conservatives do not live in these neighborhoods.
>
> Although there
>
> are some substantive "conservative" grounds for criticizing the Mayor
> such as her positions on social issues or irresponsible spending, even
> though the spending consists of business subsidies, on the whole she has
> been a "conservative" Mayor.
>
>
> Only in the sense that she's trying to preserve the status quo. That
> isn't what people usually mean these days when they say "conservative".
>
> My hypothesis is that at least a
>
> substantial percentage of "conservatives" dislike the Mayor because she
> is African American rather than her policies.
>
>
> In the interests of maintaining a minimal level of civility I will not say
> what I truly think about this disgusting "hypothesis". Has it ever occurred
> to you that conservatives despise the Mayor BECAUSE SHE'S DONE
> A CRAPPY JOB??? No, obviously it must be the color of her skin!!!
> Christ, where's my Tylenol? Do you people know any actual Republicans
> or conservatives, or are you just beating up on some straw man you keep
> in the closet to save yourself the trouble of having to find one and ask
> her what she thinks?
That could be an explanaton as to why some conservatives dislike the
Mayor. My hypothesis was not that all conservatives dislike the Mayor
because she was African American. My original post qualified any
hypothesis with the absurdity of even trying to define the Star
Tribune's reliance on such a vague term as conservative. Given these
limitations, my hypothesis remains that a substantial portion of people
describing themselves as conservative dislike or "despise" the Mayor
because of her race. While I posed this statement as a "hypothesis", I
cannot avoid a personal conclusions that there is a lot of racism behind
much of the consevatives' hatred of the Mayor given that her policies
would comfortably fit what are generally described as "conservative." I
further suggest that if George W or Norm COleman were advancing the same
policies (as Coleman is largely doing in St. Paul), the conservatives
would love the Mayor.
Also keep in mind that I am not a supporter of the Mayor myself, and
further suggested that many people who describe themselves as "liberal"
support the Mayor because she is African American rather than because of
her policies.
>
> Kevin Trainor
> 6-10, East Phillips
> I used to be involved but now I'm just disgusted.
Jordan Kushner
8-?, west powderhorn
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