The [Self] Pity Party hunkers down in fear
by digby
So Alex Castellanos says that if Romney turned out the "reticent Republicans" hecan win. And who are they, you might ask?
[T]o identify our next president, we have to understand how publicly embarrassing it is to be a Republican these days.
Hollywood, the music industry, the news media, the fashion industry, the intellectual elite and the news media all fawn over Obama. To identify yourself as a Republican Romney voter, however, is to admit that you are culturally backward. In effect, survey questioners are asking Obama voters if they self-identify as cool. They are asking Romney voters if they would publicly admit to wearing socks with sandals.
Too often, Republicans dare not speak their name, because they know the cool kids won't invite them to play.
This phenomenon, the reticent Republican factor, like the shy Tory factor found in British polls in the '90s, could easily account for a 4% to 5% unexpected pro-Romney bump on Election Day.
Right, the GOP pity party voters who suffer because the dominant liberals are so horrible that they can't even admit who they are in public.
You know, that's rich coming from the people who very recently engaged in this sort of thing:
Country superstars the Dixie Chicks have been dropped from many US radio playlists after one of the singers criticised President Bush's stance on Iraq.
Airplay for the group's songs is down 29% on country stations, and 20% on general music stations around the country, a monitoring group has said.
The Texas female trio's CDs have been burned and smashed - and even run over by a tractor in one event organised by a Louisiana country station.
It follows a remark by singer Natalie Maines in London that the group was "ashamed" that Mr Bush was from Texas.
Radio stations reported receiving a flood of protests from listeners angered by the comment.
And frankly, I have never known an American conservative who was afraid to admit that he was one. If anything they tend to assume that everyone else is too. But then again, they have been very, very fragile lately, what with the president using heinously insulting phrases like "voting is the best revenge" on the stump, so I suppose they might be too shy to admit they are voting to Romney.
We'll soon find out.
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