LTE: A few points

A few points
Regarding "In elections, self-identity wins over issues" many thanks for this essay, one of a handful that supporters of the Democratic Party trot out every time they endure an epic spanking such as the one we all witnessed last Tuesday. Let's focus on just a few particulars:

Bishop asserts that the people who actually made the effort to register and vote in this last cycle aren't just lemmings, but violent lemmings who have surrendered their will to dark tribal forces that appeal to our baser instincts. He actually cites a real world "Lord Of The Flies" study to prove his point. Got that? Expressing yourself by pulling a lever is no different than a bunch of little boys on a camping trip who descend into savagery.

He goes on to insist that "Communities increasingly tip either Republican or Democratic as people congregate with like-minded others," and that "individual churches have aligned with political (parties)..... the conservative Presbyterians are over here; the liberal Baptists are there....." Surely Bishop has to know that in terms of the political affiliation of those religions, he got it exactly backward.

Bishop further claims that the phenomenon of identity politics has occurred "Over the last 30 to 40 years." How convenient, exactly the time frame during which Republicans finally broke a Democrat political monopoly going back to FDR. Apparently, the two-party system controlled by the Democrats for the previous half century was just hunky dory, a model of individuality and self-determination.

Of all the implausible things he says, though, this one has to take the cake: "Voters have become more allegiant to their party since the 1970s and the number of truly independent voters has been reduced to a single-digit smidgen of the electorate."

If there is one thing that conservatives, liberals and all pundits would agree on, it is that the independent vote as a percentage of the electorate has exploded since that time.

Pete Smith, Houston

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Thursday-letters-Picking-the-brain-of-voters-5889177.php
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Regarding "In elections, self-identity wins over issues" (Sunday Outlook), many thanks for this article by Bill Bishop. It's a Laugh-a-Palooza, the ultimate Sore Loser diatribe, and one of a handful that supporters of the Democratic Party trot out every time they endure an epic spanking such as the one we all witnessed last Tuesday.  I could make a career out of dissecting his wrong-headedness, but let's focus on just a few particulars:

 

Bishop asserts that the people who actually made the effort to register and vote in this last cycle aren't just lemmings, but violent lemmings who have surrendered their will to dark tribal forces that appeal to our baser instincts.  He actually cites a real world "Lord Of The Flies" study to prove his point.  Got that?  Expressing yourself by pulling a lever is no different than a bunch of little boys on a camping trip that descend into savagery.

 

He goes on to insist that "Communities increasingly tip either Republican or Democratic as people congregate with like-minded others", and that "individual churches have aligned with political (parties)..... the conservative Presbyterians are over here; the liberal Baptists are there....."  Surely Bishop has to know that in terms of the political affiliation of those religions, he got it exactly backwards?

 

Bishop further claims that the phenomenon of identity politics has occurred "Over the last 30 to 40 years."  How convenient, exactly the time frame during which Republicans finally broke a Democrat political monopoly going back to FDR.  Apparently, the two party system controlled by the Democrats for the previous half century was just hunky dory, a model of individuality and self-determination. 

Of all the implausible things he says, though, this one has to take the cake: "Voters have become more allegiant to their party since the 1970s and the number of truly independent voters has been reduced to a single-digit smidgen of the electorate."  If there is one thing that conservatives, liberals and all pundits would agree on, it is that the Independent vote as a percentage of the electorate has exploded since that time.

 

I could go on.  I could point out that Bishop admits that the Lord Of The Flies study he cited to prove a phenomenon that he claims is unique to "the last 30 or 40 years" was actually done back in 1954.   I could point out that in terms of "identity politics" the term "Yellow Dog" so popular for more than 50 years refers exclusively to Democrats.  And finally, I could remind him that his explanation of Democrat losses is competing with that other stock Democrat excuse: voter apathy, but that would all be piling on. 

 

If Bishop truly wants to understand what is in the minds of voters, he might try actually talking with some of us.  I believe he would come away with markedly different conclusions.

Pete Smith
Houston, TX