One would expect that the forum’s opinion of Reaganfan would depend on whether they remember Ronald Wilson Reagan himself. In the 1980s, American homes were, on a weekly basis, tuned into television programming such as “The A-Team”. The protagonists of this show were people who could do jobs that the government was incapable of doing, and the government was always trying to stop them. This fit the bill for the Reagan Era’s anti-government conservatism. This was normal when one was living under the post-World War II cloud of communism.
Obviously, much has changed since then. But the seeds of cultural decay actually began even before the 80s, when the good old days of the 1950s were replaced by the disillusionment of the radical 1960s and 1970s...all the while the Soviet Union was showing off its military strength. As this was happening, the 20 year old guy firing at German soldiers on French beaches was suddenly a 56 year old American who saw a likable but incompetent President fumbling the ball with the Soviets, having American hostages in Iran, and watching the country they had fought for radically change before their eyes. They were fed up. It didn't matter how likable President Carter was. It didn't matter how good of a speech he might give. The foreign policy failures and the economic recession were simply unacceptable. Nowadays, when women and blacks constitute a solid majority of America, a Republican winning the popular vote is almost unthinkable. But in 1980 America, figures such as Archie Bunker still had cultural currency, and so Reagan won a landslide beyond what any of the cultural elites of then or now could have imagined.
Unfortunately, this wouldn’t last. Women, blacks, and even gays are now the majority. And so we have an attempt by liberals to make it seem that if someone is a conservative or a member of the Republican Party, that the person should be considered either homophobic, racist, sexist or bigoted. This is due to the overwhelming facts about why certain voting blocs vote a certain way.
Now, before we go any further, let’s agree on two rules:
1. You cannot say that I am "generalizing" or "stereotyping". I'll let you in on a secret...nearly all of America is one big generalization. Generalizing is by far a foundational element of logic and human reasoning.
2. Everything can be interpreted as racist, due in part (funnily enough) because of generalizing. You can say, "I miss 50s music." Does that mean you wish Jim Crow Laws were still in existence? Of course not.
Now, with those ideas in mind, let's look at men vs. women. YES, you do have exceptions where there are men who vote liberal, women who vote conservative. This is clear. See Rule #1 about generalizations.
I remember watching interviews back in the 2012 election campaign, where reporters walk around college campuses or a neighborhood or wherever, and ask the men and women who they may consider voting for and why. Men, regardless of who they claimed they were voting for, seemed more issue oriented. "Ahh gas prices, etc”. "Obama killed Bin Laden, he's got my vote!" etc. Women on the other hand, seemed more emotion oriented. "Yeah I don't think he's done a good job on the economy...but I feel as though he is trying his hardest“. That's what nailed it for me.
To quote a film line from Sean Connery, the ultra tough-guy male, James Bond himself, “Your best? Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and **** the prom queen!” It's true that for the most part men couldn’t care less about emotion when it comes to voting. That's why so many men (a majority) voted for John McCain the same day virtually the entire world was gasping over the election of the first black President of the United States. They weren't voting based on race. They're not racist. They weren't voting based on the eccentricity of the moment or emotion. They voted on the issues. Women tend to vote on emotion.
Think of the general way dating is perceived. If a woman tells another girl that a guy just got out of jail, and he's a perceived a ”Bad Boy", chances are she will look at that as a positive. It's a turn on. It's dangerous.
If a man tells another man, "That girl just got out of jail, she's a bad girl, etc” chances are the guys will say, "Keep me the hell away from that crazy girl".
While that's a generalization, it's quite obvious the "bad" image appeals to women while men typically will tell each other, "Stay away from her, dude...she's bad news".
Then you end up with having many women think they can change the way a man is. Or they try and ameliorate and rectify a negative situation. "He only hits me because he loves me". That real emotion driven, "We may have 8% unemployment, but he's trying“. Men on the other hand are more likely to say, "I want results!"
That's why we have such a huge gender gap. Emotion. Democrats LOVE to drive voter emotion. I'll never forget my grandmother near tears because she read some pamphlet in the mail that said if George Bush is elected President in 2000, her social security would be gone on day 1 of his administration. Of course, George Bush defeated Al Gore in 2000, and my grandmother still has her Social Security, assuming that she’s still alive. It's the politics of fear. Often Democrats say Republicans are the party of fear, but it's actually the other way around.
Now, let’s talk about women and political knowledge. The other day, I asked my sister if she could name all of the members of the A-Team, and who was president when they went on their first mission. She said she thought the A-Team was the one with the talking car, and asked if the president at the time was Bill Clinton. Exasperated, I asked her how she will feel when Red China beats us to Mars because too many of today’s youth don’t even know the answers to such basic popular culture questions. I asked her how she would feel if the Chinese broadcast their Mars landing, and pre-empted her favorite television programming. She said “I guess that would suck.” Can you believe that she gave such a simple five word answer, with one of those words being “suck”?
So that’s why I don’t think Reaganfan will be seen as a Freedom Fighter here until America’s demographic trends are reversed, and Dirk Benedict is back on television.
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