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OUR AFFILIATES
Monday, January 5, 2004
The S factor explains Bush's popularity
By NEAL STARKMAN
GUEST COLUMNIST
Millions of words have been written as to the motivations of voters.
Particularly in close elections, as in the 2000 presidential contest, pundits
and laypeople alike have speculated on why people voted for whom. The exit poll
has been a major tool in this speculation.
But the speculation misses the mark by far. It's increasingly obvious, for
example, that none of the so-called theories can explain President Bush's
popularity, such as it is. Even at this date in his presidency, after all that
has happened, the president's popularity hovers at around 50 percent -- an
astonishingly high figure, I believe, given the state of people's lives now as
opposed to four years ago.
What can explain his popularity? Can that many people be enamored of what he
has accomplished in Iraq? Of how he has fortified our constitutional freedoms
with the USA Patriot Act? Of how he has bolstered our economy? Of how he has
protected our environment? Perhaps they've been impressed with the president's
personal integrity and the articulation of his grand vision for America?
Is that likely?
Granted, there are certain subsections of the American polity that have
substantially benefited from this presidency. Millionaires and charismatic
Christians have accrued either material or spiritual fortification from Bush's
administration. But surely these two groups are a small minority of the
population. What, then, can account for so many people being so supportive of
the president?
The answer, I'm afraid, is the factor that dare not speak its name. It's the
factor that no one talks about. The pollsters don't ask it, the media don't
report it, the voters don't discuss it.
I, however, will blare out its name so that at last people can address the
issue and perhaps adopt strategies to overcome it.
It's the "Stupid factor," the S factor: Some people -- sometimes through no
fault of their own -- are just not very bright.
It's not merely that some people are insufficiently intelligent to grasp the
nuances of foreign policy, of constitutional law, of macroeconomics or of the
variegated interplay of humans and the environment. These aren't the people I'm
referring to. The people I'm referring to cannot understand the phenomenon of
cause and effect. They're perplexed by issues comprising more than two sides.
They don't have the wherewithal to expand the sources of their information. And
above all -- far above all -- they don't think.
You know these people; they're all around you (they're not you, else you would
not be reading this article this far). They're the ones who keep the puerile
shows on TV, who appear as regular recipients of the Darwin Awards, who raise
our insurance rates by doing dumb things, who generally make life much more
miserable for all of us than it ought to be. Sad to say, they comprise a
substantial minority -- perhaps even a majority -- of the populace.
Politicians have been aware of this forever; they cater to these people. They
offer simplistic solutions to complex problems. They evade directed questions
with non-sequiturs. They offer meaningless, jingoistic pap instead of
thoughtful policy. And these people, the "S" people, eat it all up with a
ladle.
I don't have a solution to this problem. To claim I did would belie my previous
arguments. But I do have some modest suggestions that might provide a start for
discussion: an intelligence test to earn the right to vote; a
three-significantly-stupid-behaviors-and-you're-out law; fines for politicians
who pander to the lowest common denominator and deportation of media
representatives who perpetuate such actions.
It's well past time that people confront this issue, no matter who's offended.
We are on the way to becoming a nation of imbeciles. I'm certain that a
plethora of "George W. Bush" jokes is already being circulated in every capital
of the world. We can stop this sapping of our national integrity but we must do
it soon, lest the morons become the norm and those of us who use our brains for
more than memorizing advertising jingles are ourselves ostracized from society.
Let's start talking. Let's bring the S factor out of the closet and into the
daylight where we can all see it, gulp at its hideousness and finally make
serious attempts to bring it to bay.
Neal Starkman lives in Seattle. Submissions for First Person, of up to 600
words, can be e-mailed to editpage@seattlepi.com; faxed to 206-448-8184 or
mailed to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA
98111-1909.
As long as stupid fat Americans have Jerry Springer and their Dominos Pizza
they are happy campers, 75% of New Yorkers polled on the street couldn't tell
you what countries bordered the U.S., land of the free, home of the stupid, we
vote with focus groups and sound bites. Now roll over honey, hand me the
doritos and the remote. Fear factor is on. And yeah, I voted for Bush, Gore is
scary. (A real quote from a lady who works in my supermarket.) Why is Gore
scary? I don't like the way he looks. That my friends is who votes in America.
Let's call them the S people.
NEWS
Local
Neighborhoods
Sports
Nation/World
Business
A&E
Lifestyle
NW Outdoors
Photos
Special Reports
COMMENTARY
Opinion
Columnists
Letters
David Horsey
Saturday Spin
Forums
COFFEE BREAK
Comics & Games
Mike Mailway
TV Listings
FIND IT!
NWclassifieds
• Jobs
• Autos
• Real Estate
• Rentals
NWsource
• Shopping
• Personals
• Yellow pages
• Maps/directions
P-I Archives
Obituaries
P-I ANYWHERE
E-mail Newsletters
News Alerts
PDA
Cell Phones
RSS Feeds
OUR AFFILIATES
Monday, January 5, 2004
The S factor explains Bush's popularity
By NEAL STARKMAN
GUEST COLUMNIST
Millions of words have been written as to the motivations of voters.
Particularly in close elections, as in the 2000 presidential contest, pundits
and laypeople alike have speculated on why people voted for whom. The exit poll
has been a major tool in this speculation.
But the speculation misses the mark by far. It's increasingly obvious, for
example, that none of the so-called theories can explain President Bush's
popularity, such as it is. Even at this date in his presidency, after all that
has happened, the president's popularity hovers at around 50 percent -- an
astonishingly high figure, I believe, given the state of people's lives now as
opposed to four years ago.
What can explain his popularity? Can that many people be enamored of what he
has accomplished in Iraq? Of how he has fortified our constitutional freedoms
with the USA Patriot Act? Of how he has bolstered our economy? Of how he has
protected our environment? Perhaps they've been impressed with the president's
personal integrity and the articulation of his grand vision for America?
Is that likely?
Granted, there are certain subsections of the American polity that have
substantially benefited from this presidency. Millionaires and charismatic
Christians have accrued either material or spiritual fortification from Bush's
administration. But surely these two groups are a small minority of the
population. What, then, can account for so many people being so supportive of
the president?
The answer, I'm afraid, is the factor that dare not speak its name. It's the
factor that no one talks about. The pollsters don't ask it, the media don't
report it, the voters don't discuss it.
I, however, will blare out its name so that at last people can address the
issue and perhaps adopt strategies to overcome it.
It's the "Stupid factor," the S factor: Some people -- sometimes through no
fault of their own -- are just not very bright.
It's not merely that some people are insufficiently intelligent to grasp the
nuances of foreign policy, of constitutional law, of macroeconomics or of the
variegated interplay of humans and the environment. These aren't the people I'm
referring to. The people I'm referring to cannot understand the phenomenon of
cause and effect. They're perplexed by issues comprising more than two sides.
They don't have the wherewithal to expand the sources of their information. And
above all -- far above all -- they don't think.
You know these people; they're all around you (they're not you, else you would
not be reading this article this far). They're the ones who keep the puerile
shows on TV, who appear as regular recipients of the Darwin Awards, who raise
our insurance rates by doing dumb things, who generally make life much more
miserable for all of us than it ought to be. Sad to say, they comprise a
substantial minority -- perhaps even a majority -- of the populace.
Politicians have been aware of this forever; they cater to these people. They
offer simplistic solutions to complex problems. They evade directed questions
with non-sequiturs. They offer meaningless, jingoistic pap instead of
thoughtful policy. And these people, the "S" people, eat it all up with a
ladle.
I don't have a solution to this problem. To claim I did would belie my previous
arguments. But I do have some modest suggestions that might provide a start for
discussion: an intelligence test to earn the right to vote; a
three-significantly-stupid-behaviors-and-you're-out law; fines for politicians
who pander to the lowest common denominator and deportation of media
representatives who perpetuate such actions.
It's well past time that people confront this issue, no matter who's offended.
We are on the way to becoming a nation of imbeciles. I'm certain that a
plethora of "George W. Bush" jokes is already being circulated in every capital
of the world. We can stop this sapping of our national integrity but we must do
it soon, lest the morons become the norm and those of us who use our brains for
more than memorizing advertising jingles are ourselves ostracized from society.
Let's start talking. Let's bring the S factor out of the closet and into the
daylight where we can all see it, gulp at its hideousness and finally make
serious attempts to bring it to bay.
Neal Starkman lives in Seattle. Submissions for First Person, of up to 600
words, can be e-mailed to editpage@seattlepi.com; faxed to 206-448-8184 or
mailed to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA
98111-1909.
As long as stupid fat Americans have Jerry Springer and their Dominos Pizza
they are happy campers, 75% of New Yorkers polled on the street couldn't tell
you what countries bordered the U.S., land of the free, home of the stupid, we
vote with focus groups and sound bites. Now roll over honey, hand me the
doritos and the remote. Fear factor is on. And yeah, I voted for Bush, Gore is
scary. (A real quote from a lady who works in my supermarket.) Why is Gore
scary? I don't like the way he looks. That my friends is who votes in America.
Let's call them the S people.
