Saturday, October 18, 2008

What is the "Real America"?

Republican candidate for vice-president, Sarah Palin, has been enjoying her campaign trek through what she calls "real America."

Senator Joe Biden has rightfully chastised her for the implication that some parts of America are more American than others, and now polling 538.com site makes the following observation about Palin's remarks:

Since her coming out in Dayton, Ohio on August, 29th, Palin has held (or is scheduled to hold) public events in 44 cities according to the Slate.com candidate tracker. [....]

[...] the racial composition of voting-age (18+) population in these 44 cities as according to the 2000 census.** They are, on average, 83.3 percent non-Hispanic white, 7.5 percent black, 5.2 percent Hispanic, and 4.0 percent "other". By comparison, the US 18+ population in 2000 was 72.0 percent white, 11.2 percent black, 11.0 percent Hispanic, and 5.9 percent other. Thirty-four of Palin's 44 cities were whiter than the US average.
So, what is a "wonderful little pocket [....] of the real America"? Sounds like to the GOP it is those places where they can try to pander to white voters by telling us that we are the real America.




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