In defense of sincere wingnuttery as a real phenomenon
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/v/XSY8BkCtl24?fs=1&hl=en_US expand=1]Melissa Harris-Perry went on Rachel Maddow last night and was in heightened ass-kicking form. The topic was the overt way Republicans are cruising for the bigot vote this election---right when I'd argue they would get the bigot vote no matter how subtly they played that card---but Melissa brought it around to the most important point of all. The Democrats, she argued, need to actually bother to build a coalition. "Not as racist/homophobic/sexist as those fuckheads" is a weak strategy, and it demoralizes progressive voters who might otherwise turn out in droves like they did to elect Obama. I agree with her, and I think the reason the Democrats are more interested in picking off some of the bigot vote instead of turning out the progressive vote is that they believe that the traditional progressive voting bloc---minorities, young people, the working poor---just don't vote as much in midterm elections. They don't ask how their actions might make that more true, though.