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Is Steven Moore's grand plan working? Friday, January 9th saw the most revered Democrat in all of Iowa, Sen. Tom Harkin put on the Dean sticker at the candidate's Iowa headquarters, southwest of central Des Moines. Dean wasn't even around; he was campaigning much closer to home. In some ways, Harkin might have been trying to gain positive news for his choice after the negative coverage that Mr. FrontRunner has received all week. Of course this maneuver infuriates Rep. Richard Gephardt, but it's hard to say if Dean will devote more time this week in the Hawkeye State or where they Live Free or Die. If the weather is any indication, it's warmer this weekend in Iowa than New Hampshire, but apparently it will be far below freezing after a new snow storm dumps more of the white stuff across the place in anticipation of the big day.

It appears the last big television event before next Monday will be the "Black/Brown Forum" on MSNBC. Wesley Clark won't be there, but Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun will. Ironically Iowa might not be the "whitest" state out there, but Non-Latino Caucasians were 92% of the state's population as late as 2000. Which state had the highest number, you might ask in 2000...why it was Vermont.

So now that you know that little tidbit (that Iowa and Vermont are pretty similar in many ways) it has come to my attention that many people I know can't seem to figure out the strange and bizzare "code" of the anti-Dean Club for Growth ad in Iowa. Bill Maher, appearing on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" sputtered that he felt "latte-sipping referred to "gays" and that "New York Times-reading" meant Jews. When Matthews asked were he could get a dictionary...Maher said, "I'm sure it's on sale at Bob Jones University".

But we know, we know, your life is short and you want to know what all the fuss is about.

Tax Hiking: Most people will tell you this has all to do about that Democrats are the party that likes to tax the big corporations and raise taxes on everyone. They say this because ever since Frankline Delano Roosevelt, the Dems have been about bigger and bigger social programs. The size of the government always increases because...surprise our population rises. Don't forget thout that regulation nut Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican and that the South during the 1830s opposed the idea of a large goods tariff because it hurt the cotton industry and benefited those who lived in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City.

Government-expanding: They could have said "nigger-loving" but then someone would really get angry. After all, FDR secretly gave the Democrats a huge boost by hiring lots of blacks to do civil service in his adminstration who then became Democrats for the rest of their lives. Many fiscal conservatives will point to this as the turning point to when the size of government actually became a political issue. Naturally of course the Republicans now figure the smaller the federal government is, the less they will have this type of support in the future.

Latte Drinking: Maybe there are no Coffee Bean's yet in Iowa, but there are definitely a few Starbucks. Bill Maher as you know claims this is a slight at gays, who must just control all of Vermont given Dean's popularity. This isn't true, but hey maybe gays and lesbians are at least happy that they are now a political force to be reckoned with.

Sushi Eating: Remember when Terry Bradshaw calls it bait in the famous 10-10-220 ads? This one is sneaky, but it's aimed at vegetarians/anti GM food/ animal rights people. You might think, aren't they just making fun of that fact that sushi is hugely popular in liberal states? Well sure there's that, but it's also the idea that Iowa produces corn, which in turn is used for feed in beef. Sushi eaters are seen as being anti-red meat. The interest groups that represent such things desire to turn America off of the taste of cow forever. Moo.

Volvo-Driving: If you ever read the work of UCLA political scientist James Q. Wilson, you would know of a particularly strange study done in the 1980s regarding the popularity of foreign cars. What the study found was that liberals believed and bought foreign cars if they wanted a sign of wealth, but conservatives/Republicans favored American-made cars. This hits the Rust Belt harder than Iowa, but foreign models are far less popular in the Midwest than California. The "are you kidding?" part of the ad is that Volvo isn't just a European car, it's a car that emphasizes safety (the first car to have side impact airbags) and is from Scandanavia...socialist paradise under the Northern Star. See how this works? Not only does it reflect a general truth, but goes towards the more outrageous stereotypes out there. Unless somehow owning a BMW makes you a Nazi sympathizer (ask any Jew who had to work there during WWII)


New York Times Reading: As if all American Jews consider New York City their second home. This sort of slap is pretty well-nuanced, much like the previous one. But it's not a token hit at people of Jewish descent. Rather in the 1940s and 50s the New Yorker became the cultural Bible not just of the City but of the entire liberal, educated urban etc. etc. population. While Jews were obviously integrated into higher education at this time, the idea that New York became sort of a nexus for the Fitzgeraldian literati. Ironically, with the New Yorker no longer the voice of the rich left in America the New York Times rankles many for its supposedly more progressive coverage of the news. Capitalizing on this and the fact that many industries based in New York City are dominated by Jews is proably why Maher said this. (Not to mention the fact that he himself is a part of the Tribe.)

Body Piercing: Non-Christians. Sure lots of women get ritualistic piercing in their ears and they aren't considered devil-worshipers. But the confluence of nose-piercing as well as mysticism drawn from both India and Native Americans don't sit well with the Christian backbone of America. Add to that the notion that every tattooed young man out there must be a Satan-worshipper or some other form of deviant and you get the picture. This goes as far back as Nixon's infamous comment about he never cared what a man's religion was so long as he had one.

Hollywood-loving: This is at once a slap at the Clintons as much as it is the rise of pornography and the supposed explosion of "entertainment news" and moral erosion. Now remember the orthodox of mullahs always pointing out our "decadent" culture seen in our films and you sort of wonder how the Club can stand side to side with the Saudi religious police but...

freak show Yes if you didn't know it already Republican consider the Democratic party a bunch of freaks. After all, isn't this about "tolerance" versus "tradition"? Isn't it because the Democrats are the team with all the "losers" the kids who get picked last and the Republicans are those who are the "winners".. I mean isn't that why the current divide seems to favor the bullying of the "alpha dog Republicans". Could it be pubery is just around the corner in America?

So there ya have it. Now you too can understand the intricacies of American politics like a true Beltway insider. Or at least Steve Moore's brain.

posted by Thomas at 1:06 AM 0 comments