[rmm0484]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

You said a mouthful.

Last fall, I was at a conference out in California. Mind you, I'm a reasonably successful businessman who does business all over the country. I don't pepper my language with mispronunciations or poor grammar. I don't own a shotgun or a coon dog. No one in my fairly broad circle of family, friends, and acquaintances has ever fit the cardboard cutout from Central Casting that keeps popping up in these articles. I often wonder if, when a news reporter visits the state, they walk right past intelligent, well-spoken individuals in search of some snaggle-toothed knuckle dragger in search of local color. As in, "Aha, we've talked to several dozen Alabamians today. FINALLY we manage to find someone who represents this state."

At every one of these conferences, I am amazed at the number of people who stroll up to me with the dumbest possible assumptions about what I think, how I vote, and a host of other things, simply because I hail from Alabama.

Everyone at the dinner table looked at me when one guy said, "Oh, and thanks to the guy from Alabama voting for Trump...."

I interrupted him. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you're from Alabama, so you're voting for Trump."

"No. Actually, I'm voting for Gary Johnson." But then I kind of spent the next sixty seconds telling him how it wasn't very nice of him to stereotype people based on where they were from. Got an apology from him, but still.

Another time, I was reading a book at a different conference. It was by Northrup Frye, a literary critic. A woman approached me because she had read the same book and wanted my opinion. She then noted my Southern accent and asked, "Where are you from?" I replied and she said, "Wow, someone from Alabama reading Northrup Frye!"

My reply was, "You know, we do read down there," followed by a list of eminent Alabama writers. Totally ticked me off.

But, unfortunately, while most of us don't fit the stereotype, the stereotype does exist for a reason. I mean no one would characterize people from Vermont or Oregon or Maryland as a bunch of backwoods lackwits, right? But we have a significant population of those types and have to live it down every time we talk to someone outside our region. The very fact that a truth-deprived, Bible-beating sideshow freak such as Roy Moore is elected for any office above dogcatcher is absolute proof.

Not a majority to be sure, but a big enough slice to get these people elected and to figure into the national imagination. We're the state that gave the world George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Roy Moore, three demagogues of a virulent stripe. Can't do much about George Wallace or Bull Connor, but voting against Roy Moore would at least make a dent in that image.

I'm from New Jersey ("Joisey!!!"), and the stereotype is really bad for our state as well. We are typecast as blue collar, Fonzi-acting knuckledraggers wearing wife-beater tee shirts, with the women having teased hair, long nails, cleavage, and no one being able to pronounce words correctly, or use correct grammar. Sort of the Yankee version of the Alabama stereotype. People tend to forget about Princeton and some of the nicer suburbs. Also, people cast aspersions about the state in general (which exit, etc...)

[Reactionary]

Well, it figures but I like New Jersey. I used to travel up there a good bit (Picatinny and Monmouth).

However, IMO "which exit" isn't so much an aspersion as humor (with some basis in fact).

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by cherokee48

I think the Times article was pretty accurate considering the average Alabama voter is viewed nationally as an uneducated and morally bankrupt conservative. Alabama voters in general detest this image of themselves yet their support of Roy Moore has confirmed to the nation what is generally thought of them outside of the state. The "Alabama voter" as described in this piece has been defined nationally as the next generation of George Wallace and Bull Connor and painted as dangerously undereducated and bitterly partisan to the point of childishness. As a previous poster mentioned this stereotype of red voting Alabama people comes from somewhere and the interviews presented in the Times article as well as other interviews of Roy Moore supporters shows that this is a significant portion of Alabama voters and this is their logic (if you can call it that). The OP referenced a factor that is often overlooked nationally about Alabama politics which is the location of a voter. Birmingham for example will almost definitely vote Jones and quite possibly some of the metro Birmimgham counties (mainly Jefferson & Shelby) will have a lot of liberal support. The urban areas of Alabama specifically Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile tend to vote blue as well as many black belt counties. When profiling the Alabama voter and Alabama politics in general this is too often overlooked and contributes to the view of Alabama as an undereducated backwater with no political parity to speak of and that is not the case. The fact that this usually safe senate seat is even a battle is an eyebrow raiser and that speaks to the parity (albeit rare on the state level in Alabama). Typically from an anectdotal view you'll find more professionals and younger people in the major metro area of the state which has a reputation as a blue area or at least a toss up and on the contrast older less educated voters in rural areas that are usually red. On this point the article fell short of getting a good cross section of voters but given the disturbing and disgusting state of Alabama politics I understand why that group of voters was targeted.

Good point. People tend to forget that every state in the union is comprised of various regions that are often very different from one another.

[tom77falcons]

Originally Posted by robertbrianbush

Good point. People tend to forget that every state in the union is comprised of various regions that are often very different from one another.

Having visited Alabama in 2014, 2015, and 2017, all in Mobile and Baldwin counties, I am curious as to why Baldwin is so deeply Roy Moore country? Isn't that where Tim Cooke is from? Isn't that also the wealthy coastal areas and artsy Fairhope?

If Baldwin goes deeply for Moore as predicted, I think you have to re-think how the people in your state really feel. Imo that wasn't at all a very rural area with yahoos. But if they are willing to vote for Moore in that kind of coastal suburban county, then I think the AL stereotype is even more strange.

There is just no way a region like that in NJ or PA would ever ever vote for Moore. There are really rural areas of PA, but Baldwin County didn't look like any of them. So in that sense there is something really different about Alabama if a county like that votes all in for Moore.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by tom77falcons

Having visited Alabama in 2014, 2015, and 2017, all in Mobile and Baldwin counties, I am curious as to why Baldwin is so deeply Roy Moore country? Isn't that where Tim Cooke is from? Isn't that also the wealthy coastal areas and artsy Fairhope?

If Baldwin goes deeply for Moore as predicted, I think you have to re-think how the people in your state really feel. Imo that wasn't at all a very rural area with yahoos. But if they are willing to vote for Moore in that kind of coastal suburban county, then I think the AL stereotype is even more strange.

There is just no way a region like that in NJ or PA would ever ever vote for Moore. There are really rural areas of PA, but Baldwin County didn't look like any of them. So in that sense there is something really different about Alabama if a county like that votes all in for Moore.

In truth, Moore hasn't typically polled nearly as well as a generic Republican in past statewide elections. The last time he ran for the State Supreme Court, he only beat his Democratic challenger by 3%.

[jas75]

I think the results tonight may adjust how Alabama is perceived by many across the country. This special Senate election had very unusual circumstances - but they ended up rejecting the nominee of the party that virtually always wins the state. Major counties with many educated residents like Madison, Lee and Tuscaloosa that voted strongly for Trump last year favored Jones this time by 16-17%.

[toosie]

Deleted more posts about partisan national politics.