Speaking For The Majority

The New York Times is descending into self-parody:

"Mr. McCain is expected to draw strong support from the more rural and southwest areas of the state, particularly among white working-class men... Support for Mr. Obama is much stronger in the northeastern section of the state, especially in places like Fairfax County, near Washington, whose population is younger, wealthier, better educated and more diverse."

Those despised rednecks - rural, white, working-class, male, that sort of riff-raff - are exactly the voters without whom the Democrats cannot win on any regular basis, if at all.

And what sort of things do such people believe? Well, on 10th September, Ron Paul held a press conference which brought four third party and independent candidates "together in unity" around a statement of principles. In swing states, those candidates are on course for combined votes of over ten per cent. The election is in the hands of the Independent Ralph Nader, the Green nominee Cynthia McKinney, the Constitution Party's Chuck Baldwin and the Libertarian Party's Bob Barr (who mysteriously did not attend, but who certainly does not disagree with any of the following).

Along with Ron Paul, they have agreed on the following four key principles:

Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with removal of all our soldiers from the region. We must initiate the return of our soldiers from around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe and the entire Middle East. We must cease the war propaganda, threats of a blockade and plans for attacks on Iran, nor should we re-ignite the cold war with Russia over Georgia. We must be willing to talk to all countries and offer friendship and trade and travel to all who are willing. We must take off the table the threat of a nuclear first strike against all nations.

Privacy: We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. We must reject the notion and practice of torture, eliminations of habeas corpus, secret tribunals, and secret prisons. We must deny immunity for corporations that spy willingly on the people for the benefit of the government. We must reject the unitary presidency, the illegal use of signing statements and excessive use of executive orders.

The National Debt: We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt. The burden of debt placed on the next generation is unjust and already threatening our economy and the value of our dollar. We must pay our bills as we go along and not unfairly place this burden on a future generation.

The Federal Reserve: We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationships with the banking, corporate, and other financial institutions. The arbitrary power to create money and credit out of thin air behind closed doors for the benefit of commercial interests must be ended. There should be no taxpayer bailouts of corporations and no corporate subsidies. Corporations should be aggressively prosecuted for their crimes and frauds.

(Public ownership, of course, is precisely not either "taxpayer bailouts of corporations" or "corporate subsidies".)

Further, they agree that Presidential Elections are, in the words of Paul, a "charade, collusion of the two parties and the media", where they "pretend great differences where there is none", and where neither party really "addresses subjects that are majority positions", referring to the points in the statement of principles quoted above.

But we all know the sort of people who adhere to such positions: the rural, the white, the working-class, the male, that sort of riff-raff. As despised by the Democrats (and the Republicans, really) as by New Labour (and the Tories, openly). Yes, as much as that.