Politics: Stupid Voters Are People, Too

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Politics Stupid Voters Are People, Too And the journalists who report on them don't need to apologize for it. By David Weigel Posted Monday, Mar 19, 2012, at 11:54 PM ET If you don't hate Alexandra Pelosi, you hate America. A week ago, Pelosi delivered a micro-documentary to Real Time With Bill Maher about angry, dentally challenged Mississippi Republicans who mistook Barack Obama for Satan. Maher's audience, which offers up Pavlovian applause to any joke about Republicans, ate it up. The pundit class reached for the sick bag. Pelosi, obviously taken aback, filmed a new documentary about arrogant, lazy black people outside a New York welfare office. That made people even sicker. "I thought liberals were against the dehumanization of the powerless," wrote Ta-Nehisi Coates, the sharpest of the anti-Pelosis. "Since when did shitting on poor and working people become worthy of self-congratulation?" Since last week. After Pelosi and Maher's silly video came a much more serious study of the same question: a Politico article about, basically, voter stupidity. According to reporter Alexander Burns, voters believed in a "litany of contradictory, irrational or simply silly opinions," and were "wandering, confused and Forrest Gump-like" through a campaign that was too complex for their tiny brain pans. "A lot of times," explained Politico editor-in-chief John Harris, introducing and defending the piece, "stories generate from the editors' rants." Mea maxima culpa; they were angry, and they forgot to hold their breath and count to 10. Pelosi should probably say some rosaries for the idiotic fiddle music that played over her original video, an attempt to make the footage more Deliverance-ready. But she doesn't have much else to apologize for ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Republican Voters Say They Want Strong Executive Experience. So Why Are They Voting for Rick Santorum? Yes, Europe Has More Economic Mobility Than the U.S.—but Europeans Are Still Snobs Of Course Birth Control Pills Should Be Sold Over the Counter. No, They Do Not Interact Badly With Antibiotics.	Advertisement
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