Poll: Sessions comment about 'an island in the Pacific' is dog-whistle bigotry ?

[Beet]

I don't like Sessions, but he rightly figures he can tell Hawaii to F off with impunity. I don't blame him, as they'd probably think the same of him. Hawaii used to be very careful to show its loyalty to the United States by voting Republican once in a while (Nixon '72, Reagan '84) and not become the most Democratic state in the country. Since they've dropped that obeisance, they've lost some of their protection, too.

[Beet]

I don't like Sessions, but he rightly figures he can tell Hawaii to F off with impunity. I don't blame him, as they'd probably think the same of him. Hawaii used to be very careful to show its loyalty to the United States by voting Republican once in a while (Nixon '72, Reagan '84) and not become the most Democratic state in the country. Since they've dropped that obeisance, they've lost some of their protection, too.

What? So they have to shuffle their voting patterns to keep both parties satisfied regardless of how they feel they should be represent or else they deserve to be subjected to this bigotry? I'll say this nicely. Your train of thought is right in line with Sessions' worldview.

It's just reality. We've just had a campaign where one candidate and his supporters promised to lock up the other one. If you're not a part of the winning coalition, you don't get respect. Why this is surprising to anyone is a mystery.

[Beet]

Eh, I like you guys, but this is pretty much the mentality that cost Clinton the election. There's no world where what you're saying isn't incredibly naive, and I feel that once again, as the messenger I am going to be "shot" for this. And as much as I find bronz's repetitions annoying, both sides do it. Did or did not Obama travel more often to swing states, while avoiding deep red states like Idaho, Utah, and South Dakota until the 7th year of his presidency? Did or did not Hillary call half of Trump's supporters "deplorables"? Sessions is not doing anything qualitatively different. Liberals always dream for a nation of kumbaya with conservatives due to our collectivist ideology, but it's just not happening.

[Beet]

I think Beet is just trying to get responses. If Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch had made a similar comment about a small red state, the right-wing would be up in arms about it and not so dismissive. Just because you don't like how a state votes does not mean you should not respect said state's status as part of the union. Jeff Sessions is just a good old boy who sees Hawaii as some exotic location that isn't part of "America" in the traditionalist sense. Plenty of people still see the lower 48 or just certain states as "real America".

Correct. And there would be also posters here saying stuff like "Holder is right. Those racist West Virginia hicks can die off!" Just like there are liberals saying we should let the GOP repeal Obamacare if it hurts Trump states the most, or celebrating health care being taken away from them.

But of course I'm just a troll looking to get responses? No. I'm just injecting some reality in the discussion.

[Beet]

I said Hawaii used to vote Republican once in a while to show its loyalty.

South Dakota is the most anti-incumbent state in the union. This was probably the most extreme case of that.

True, though McPherson has had no problem whatsoever voting for Republican incumbents since then.

Any theories as to why SD is so anti-incumbent, by the way? I've heard this often repeated and election returns do seem to bear it out, but was curious if there is any logic as to why this is the case. Hawaii's pro-incumbent bias has been explained in some articles as being due to the Asian/Pacific Islander population tending to favor continuity and tradition as part of their culture and in a desire to appear "mainstream" and avoid extremist positions and politicians (for an example, look at how badly both Goldwater and McGovern did in HI) possibly in part due to their patriotism and national loyalty having been so strongly questioned during World War 2.

I suppose Nym is an attention-seeking troll as well?