[MD] Racism and Marketing

[Mike Craghead]

Hi Heather!

Candidates campaign to get the "name-the-ethnicity-here" vote for the 
same reason marketing firms make targeted ads for beer and cars and dish 
soap. We elect using the same tiny chunk of our brain we use to purchase 
Brand A instead of Brand B. That's why it all gets so sordid; the 
marketing becomes more important than the humans behind them; and the 
talking point eclipses any actual dialog.

I don't think it's completely driven by racism, I think it's less about 
hate and more about indifference. It's a cold way to look at people, 
reducing them to their stereotypes in order to pander to what they like. 
The people driving campaigns don't hate the voters; they're far less 
emotional than that. Those driving campaigns truly do not care about 
anything but how the voters vote, and the logistics of extracting said 
vote. It's marketing.

I wonder, can a candidate get elected by remaining truthful? Could they 
ever? If there was a time, it was before my time. A "good" politician 
(yes, and I also believe in fairies) has to jump through so many hoops 
to get elected that they will be "bad" by the time they take office.

The thing is, we still have about the best deal available. We 
bloodlessly change our president (we also don't wait until he's out of 
town and then send tanks over to steal his house), we get to pick from 
lots of news sources, we have 24-hour access to Nacho Cheese Doritos, 
and (for the most part) we don't drink from the same reservoir fed by 
our outhouses. Love it or leave it? Of course not, that's throwing out 
the baby with the bathwater. Accept it how it is? No. But fight to make 
it better, because this country is built upon some of the best ideas 
ever about how to build a country.

Mike Craghead


Heather Perella wrote:
> Hello,
>
>      I would also like to add that racism occurs every
> time politicians want to campaign in black
> neighborhoods or white neighborhoods.  Politicians
> openly discuss how they need the minority vote, and
> don't forget the major of New Orleans and his
> 'chocolate New Orleans'.  I hear the news discuss how
> is the such and such politician going to get the
> Mexican vote, African American vote, Jewish vote,
> etc...  Polls are done to tally how many African
> Americans, Jews, etc... voted for this politician or
> that politician.  For instance, we know that African
> Americans have been traditionally voting for Democrats
> in the last half century and the last elections in the
> this century.  People keep track of these votes so
> politicians can focus on trying to 'get the black
> vote'.  Recently Republicans have been getting most of
> the Latin/Mexican vote.  Polls themselves reflect the
> need to know what different races are doing.  Why make
> the distinction in the first place?  In Brazil, their
> government recognizes hundreds of different races
> according to color.  When I fill out forms that ask
> for my color of skin, I never answer or check mark any
> of the boxes.  Why must they know?
>
> SA
>
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