GRITtv with Laura Flanders » GRITtv Live: Can the Culture Warriors Get it Up? (And Get Out the Vote in November?)

By: GRITtv Wednesday October 22, 2008 12:40 pm

Thank you all for participating in today’s live stream. You can see the full show at 8 pm eastern.

If you thought that this presidential election was about the economy, think again. Senator John McCain’s campaign is flooding swing voters with "robocalls" questioning Barack Obama’s character. North Carolina representative Robin Hayes accused Obama of "inciting class warfare" and said that "liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God." In a much circulated television interview with Chris Matthews of MSNBC, Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann channeled Joe McCarthy claiming that Senator Obama held "very Anti-American," views and called for a Congressional witch hunt to "find out if they (elected congressmembers) are pro-America or anti-America." And Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke at a fundrasier and said that, "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America."

Is our country so divided? Is class war the new culture war? We are joined by journalist Michelle Goldberg, the author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism; Abby Scher senior editor of The Public Eye; Kristina Wilfore executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center; and Rose Aguilar, host of Your Call, a daily call-in radio show on KALW in San Francisco. Her new book, Red Highways: A Liberal’s Journey into the Heartland is out today!

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6 Responses to “GRITtv Live: Can the Culture Warriors Get it Up? (And Get Out the Vote in November?)”

egregious October 22nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm

Thanks Laura!

GRITtv October 22nd, 2008 at 12:51 pm

Thom Frank on Joe the Plumber and GOP authenticity:

Joe the Plumber — along with his just-discovered supporter, Tito the Builder — has brought to the GOP what Richard Wirthlin went looking for so long ago: blue-collar affirmation. But consider the degree of reality-blindness it takes to kick out the authenticity like Joe does. The rust-belt metro area in which he lives has been in decline for decades. In 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked it 335 out of 369 small metropolitan areas for unemployment; for home foreclosures, according to a 2007 article in the Toledo Blade, it is the 30 worst of all cities in the nation. According to Census numbers, median household income in the Toledo area, measured in constant dollars, has actually decreased since the late 1970s.

Leen October 22nd, 2008 at 1:09 pm

Chris Matthews ripped up Palin again last night.
Palin’s statement to the second and third graders in regard to the responsibilities of the V.P.
Palin to the second and third graders “They’re (the V.P.) in charge of the United States Senate if they really want to they can get in there with the Senators and make a lot of good policy changes that make life better”

When Pat Buchanan tried to make light of her statements by saying that she was talking to second and third graders Matthews responded “she is talking LIKE a second grader”

Chris Matthews also had Bill Maher on to discuss the Bachman, Palin “anti-American” politics.

Bill Maher on Matthews interview with Palin last Friday “I love it when you give enough rope to dumb people to hang themselves”
Maher referred to the Palin/Bachman politics as “being pulled out of Joe the Plumbers crack”

If you did not watch Hardball last night sure worth it

I did feel that Matthews missed the opportunity to pound on Cheney and the “barnacle” branch that he has been illegally operating out of. Wonder how many times Palin has met with Cheney? Where did she get those ideas about just what the responsibilities of the V.P. are? I guess those ideas could have been from that boat load of “horny neo-cons” Or from the way she has operated as the Governor of Alaska.

Last night’s Hardball basically focused on Palin and Bachman
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/

political123 October 22nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm

Laura,

Would your panelists call this “anti-American” tactic part of a bigger effort, all part of the October Surprise? Is this just a taste of more that is to come in these last 2 weeks? Does the general voters recognize this tactic for what it’s worth? Could it have an adverse effect?

Thanks,
Stephanie
Roanoke, VA

Leen October 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm

In response to GRITtv @ 2

Last night Bill Maher said that Palin and Bachman’s politics are being “pulled out of Joe the Plumbers crack”