Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Phillips Governor Bredesen, We Are Already at Waffle House
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 7:25 AM
As you read, Bredesen was talking what went wrong for the Democrats, and he said:
I mean, I really think the Democratic Party … I think has got to get reestablished as the party of people who shop in Walmarts and go to Waffle House. People have got to start listening to these people and not the advocacy groups and the unions and everybody else that we’ve had as these constituencies. I think if we can do that and really try to understand what the people I’m just describing, who have been over the years the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, what they’re really looking for and try to provide that, I think we’ll do fine.
I find Bredesen's continued insistence that Democrats need to start hanging out at Walmart so amazingly condescending and concern-trolly that I honestly cannot believe the folks he says it to don't stare blankly at him and then laugh in his face. I mean, dude, we all saw the shirt you had on under your famous Green Vest of Assurance during the flood. You probably could have bought 500 shirts at Walmart for the price of one of those shirts.
Who is Bredesen to tell anyone to hang out at Walmart?
But he's been telling Democrats of various sorts to go to Walmart for years now. I mean, by this point, I just assume he owns stock. And I finally realized today why it pisses me off so much.
We are already at Walmart. We already eat at Waffle House. Right here, right now, in this very state, in the very city Bredesen lives in.
We are already at Walmart — Democratic voters, Democratic volunteers, Democratic phone-bankers, Democratic donors.
And only a person who has abandoned us wouldn't know that.
Only a person out of touch with where the Democratic base in this state is would insist the Democrats go someplace they already are like they're on some expedition into foreign territory.
Only a person who hasn't bothered to consider us wouldn't know that we are already at Waffle House.
If you're wondering why Democrats in this state are so demoralized, it's because even the ostensible head of the State Democratic Party talks about "real" people like that's a group that, by definition, excludes Democrats.
But here's the other thing. I'm tired of Bredesen treating us like we're stupid. I don't know what Walmart he goes to, but I used to shop at the old one on Nolensville, way back in the day, and then I shopped at the one on Charlotte and now I shop at the one on Dickerson or the one in Ashland City.
And you and I both know Bredesen isn't advocating that Democrats pay more attention to what Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, and single moms are going through. We all know he's trying to say, "We need to be more concerned about what grumpy-ass white guys think," but rather than just be square with everyone and come out and say that, he's trying to rely on his stereotype of who shops at Walmart or goes to Waffle House to signal "working-class white guys."
So, I beg you, Governor Bredesen, stop being cutesy. If you think Democrats should do more to kiss up to white guys that you think are somehow more salt of the earth than the rest of us, say so. Just flat out say it.
And if you are — suddenly, at the last second of your administration — going to do more for Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, and single moms, I think I speak for all Democrats when i say, "Bring it on."
Comments (26)
Showing 1-26 of 26
Forget the Waffle House, I'm at the Wendy's dollar menu and have been going. Waffle house prices have gone beyond my price range. We cut coupons for Dollar General and Walmart and have learned what's cheaper at Dollar Tree, Aldi's , or Godwill. I've given up coffee for health and financial reasons with sip or two if it's free ( Thank you, Burger King and internet freebies from Taster's Choice). We still have more than other people in the world but what we need is a future. They talk about the global warming but ignore the food and water wars that will soon follow. We live in a world that has put band-aids on fatal woulds and act like the patient will live. I see a dying world. That is what the democrats need to see.
like
dislikeHe did this in 2008, too, and it was just as tone-deaf and insulting then as it is now. As you said, two years ago nearly to the day:
http://tinycatpants.wordpress.com/2008/11/…
And the shame of it is that they're all walking around talking like someone else lost the election for them. No accountability.
This article proves his point. Single Moms, Blacks, Latinos and Muslims do not need the Democrat elite to save them. They were representing their own intersts just fine within the confines of both parties. The Party as a whole since the '68 convention has moved more and more toward being controlled by unions, advocat groups and others that have a vested interest in holding their hand out for money. The Reps are not much better, the corporations do the same thing but are more subtle about it. The problem is that unions, advocat groups and others holding their hands out are marginalized during an economic downturn. Combine that with a poor sense of timing on Obama's part and you get your ass kicked in a mid-term election. The Democratic Party is about as subtle as a kick in the teeth. They just KNOW what is best for you and can't wait to make sure you know it too.
@OhtheIroney: It seems quite common for people to complain about unions and advocacy groups lately. About them "holding their hands out", what does that mean? They only advocacy groups that I am a part of want equality. To my knowledge that saves money - it doesn't cost money. I'm also not sure I've ever heard of a union with it's hand out. Hand out to whom, the government? That doesn't really make sense. What exactly are you trying to describe in relation to unions and advocacy groups?
If you look at the people who control the Democrat party, you will see that there are no regular folk amongst them. When the government creates a taxpayer-funded handout, you see it as help for the poor and downtrodden. What I see is powerful special interests putting their hands in my pockets. The War on Poverty is a losing battle. Some people will always be poor due to limitations of intellect and motivation. Government handouts destroy what little initiative they may have. There is no solution, so stop wasting my money, Congress! If the Democrats want to succeed, they need to pay attention to the needs of the white middle-class family they are currently hurting with their shortsighted policies. Here are a few pointers for you micromanagers:
1. Lower taxes to create economic incentives.
2. Get out of the way of the capitalist market so that good-paying jobs can be created.
3. Get your nose out of my personal business.
4. Stop pandering to minorities!
Ms. Phillips, I did not say or even suggest that Democrats should start going to Walmart and the Waffle House. Because I'm not an idiot, I'm well aware they - and others - are already there. What I said was that the Democratic Party needs to reestablish itself as the party of people who represent people who go to those places. As I said, we need to start listening to them more.
Furthermore, I believe most citizens understand I'm a billionaire and would therefore not expect me to buy my shirts at Walmart. Does that exclude me from wanting my party to represent people who do buy their shirts there, i.e., average working people?
Lastly, my staff just pulled up this comment posted by you on Nov. 8th, "He has been a fine governor..."
Though one would certainly think otherwise from the hysterical screed (typical, I'm told) you posted today, I hope you still feel the same here on Nov. 10th.
Thanks, Betsy. Fact is, "Walmart" is code for something - it's code for how Southerners shop and their willingness to sell out local economic development to save 25 cents on a gallon of milk. Also code for how Southerners hate ... HATE ... organized labor even though labor is out there working for the kind of economic development that folks who "shop at Walmart" really want and need. It's also code for the US Chamber of Commerce and their love of the global supply chains where they get a penny of profit for every damn transaction ... put together a few billion of those transactions and that's real money. Meanwhile, WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
Sorry, Tom, but you don't get more "regular folk" than Eric Stewart, Mike Turner, or Brenda Gilmore.
One more piece of code... "Walmart" is code for paying $1 to drive 10 miles in your SUV/pickup to Walmart/Costco/Sams so that you can save 50 cents on a 2-liter of Coke. But gosh, it sure does save time and money to drive to Walmart/Costco/Sams! I love it when my bill is only $150 instead of $155.
...they're all walking around talking like someone else lost the election for them. No accountability.
Which is Bredsen and the TNDP writ large. In 2004, he claimed that the fact that Kerry was so unpopular hurt the Democrats at home. In 2006, he won 95 counties for himself but had no coattails as evidenced by the loss of the Senate majority. In 2008, Obama's raging popularity allegedly depressed Democratic turnout -- but the DP still found time to spend themselves 10's of thousands into hock to stick a shiv in Rosalind Kurita, rather than spending that money in close House races. And here in 2010, the grand strategy started with Dist 62 and the sharing of the DP voter file with Tenn. Right to Life for the baby cloning boogeyman mailer.
It ain't working.
(And as far as unions and hands out... I can recall that Bredesen went hat-in-hand to the AFL-CIO on a few occasions and got consequential sums of money in return. Bredesen was never one to dance with the one who brung him, though.)
Unions haven't been part of "the heart and soul of the Democratic Party???" Total nonsense, conjured into place to pander to the very people who have whatever labor benefits they have BECAUSE of unions and would be well served by them now, but have been well trained to see them as dogs of the devil.
Two errors in Andy's comment:
Democrats lost the Senate majority in 2004. In 2006, they picked up a Senate seat and held a bunch of open House seats.
TN AFL-CIO has never had "consequential sums of money." They might contribute sweat equity, but they aren't money people.
Even if you have a valid point about the Democratic party, when you open your comment by referring to them as the "Democrat" party, you immediately give your audience an excuse to roll their eyes and dismiss anything you say.
Bredesen's trope that 'Democrats just need to hang out at Wal-Mart and Waffle House' is itself straight out of the DC Beltway. That's what David Broder says too, for crying out loud. Who does he think he's fooling? The answer: no one in Tennessee.
Bredesen is speaking not only for the establishment, but to it as well.
Would anyone like to discuss this in person? We could meet up for brunch at Margot.
Benintn highlights what Governor Bredesen was, I think, trying to say, however imperfectly.
The assumption that voters in the South (no Walmarts in the East, MidWest or West, I guess) do not make decisions based on their interests is the height of arrogance. Perhaps the Governor should have suggested that the Democratic leaders talk respectfully with Walmart shoppers rather than treat them as unruly children who need someone to make decisions for them.
Typical Betsy "Aunt Riddler" Phillips fare. She uses twisted logic and language to levy a bumbling attack on the most popular term-limited governor in America, and the whole
thread devolves into a debate over Labor and unions. Face it, Riddler: Your writing sucks. Go back to park reviews and ghost stories and brain-teasers about "Marbles."
Most popular term limited governor in America? That is more ludicrous than your petty personal slam of a blogger who dares put out opinions that go against your white-washed summary of one of the most ineffectual and spineless state party leaders in America. A popular and effective governor would have long ago shored up his state party, helped select a solid successor and built a campaign team behind him in a state sorely lacking in any intelligent or progressive leadership. But that's not Bredesen, because he's not a team player, he's an shaky-kneed egotist who weakly straddles issues and mumbles meaningless semi-intellectual responses to anything involving issues or positive policy work. Tennessee politics wallow in the worst mess they've been in since Ray Blanton, even more so than under Sundquist, and this is someone you hold up as a powerful figure? Bull.
Besides that, Bredesen lost every chance to build his platform that led to a next step for him. Instead, he's toast. There's no question he took the governorship thinking it was one more step toward a more national profile. He never really cared much for Tennessee or Nashville anyway. But he bungled any opportunity he had with the same wishy-washy leadership style that led to his future sliding downhill with everything else he touched. Good riddance, I say.
"The assumption that voters in the South (no Walmarts in the East, MidWest or West, I guess) do not make decisions based on their interests is the height of arrogance."
That's not the point. They think they are making decisions based on their interests by saving time and money at Walmart but continue to shoot themselves in the foot by supporting a political establishment that is not going to help them. It's not arrogance, it's fact. Read the book What's The Matter With Kansas sometime. Yes, it's one writer's point of view but he makes a great case. That's what Bredesen is missing. There was nothing Obama could really do, short of making and selling a better case, that was going to help them this time around, especially with the historical certainty that the party in power almost always loses seats. And Obama will never be seen as "one of us" to many people, especially white southernors. It's a fact.
Chris,
The voters you have so much contempt for might tell you, if you bothered to ask, that the political establishment you support is not going top make their communities or their nation safer, their schools better or their society more in tune with their values. They might also tell you that they do not want to trade their freedom now for your promise of jobs or cheap health care in the future.
I might ask you opinion of books like 'What's wrong with California and New Jersey' which looks at why voters continue to support insane spending that kills jobs and drives people from the state. Or what about 'What's wrong with Education' which deals with why the so many 'friends of Education' in America support continuing the failed policies of the last 30 years and oppose innovations shown to improve student performance?
The burden of Democracy is that it requires a leap of faith on the part of everyone that everyone else (or at least the majority of people) can figure out their interests. Now if you want to be honest and admit that you would prefer to lessen the power of voters in favor of enlightened rulers, that is fine with me.
Mark,
I don't have contempt for anybody. My point is, these blue collar voters aren't being served by Republican policies. Maybe they're not by Democratic ones either, but, especially in this state, where I live, voters have not discerned the difference in what Republicans say and what they do, which is a huge difference. The fact is, Republicans spend just as much as Democrats and they earmark just as much. The difference is they do it protecting big corporations and their donors.
To quote the article: "If you're wondering why Democrats in this state are so demoralized, it's because even the ostensible head of the State Democratic Party talks about "real" people like that's a group that, by definition, excludes Democrats."
The truth is painful. In this context "real" means people who work hard for a living, pay taxes and don't believe that all problems are solved by government taking and expending more and more money from fewer and fewer people, those who actually drive the economy and create jobs.
"In this context "real" means people who work hard for a living, pay taxes and don't believe that all problems are solved by government taking and expending more and more money from fewer and fewer people, those who actually drive the economy and create jobs."
So why do they vote Republican then? That's the whole point. If you look past the rhetoric, they aren't doing anything for the "real" people either. Look no further than the national Republican party. You've got Marsha Blackburn who can't seem to specify where the spending cuts are going to come from, certainly not defense (why?) or entitlements (again, why, if you are serious about cutting spending). Those are the vast majority of federal government spending. And then you have Senate Republicans who are already, just a week past the elections, backtracking on earmarks. Of course, working class whites who have flocked to the Republicans in mass won't notice this.
If folks are all about helping the inner-city community, how about this:
1.) Ending the War on Drugs (Take the drug profit out of violent gang's hands, loosening up resources in order to concentrate on violent crime and robberies)
2.) Phasing War on Poverty out (You're on the dole? Then you need to do community work in exchange)
3.) School Reform (vouchers, charter schoos, vocational ed. as voluntary option, decreasing summer vacation, the works)
Those three pillars alone would do wonders.
