Early Reads for Friday, June 8th, 2012

soundoff (One Response)

1. Reeta
   

   Seth, I think there really is a ptcariacl difference between the attitudes you describe. If a religiously conservative person opposes Romney because he or she opposes Romney's religion (i.e. for not being christian), then he or she is acting like a bigot. There is not a policy-related reason for their opposition, especially since Romney is touting precisely the policy values which these people claim to support.If a liberal person opposes Romney for his religion (i.e. because he or she views most, if not all, American LDS as narrow-minded conservative throwbacks ), then he or she is opposing Romney on the basis of policy. Granted, not all LDS are narrow-minded conservative throwbacks, but surely we can agree that most American LDS are, in fact, politically conservative. Would such a liberal voter be acting on a stereotype? Technically, but Romney's words and actions make it rather clear that he happens to fit that stereotype. A liberal voter has substantial reason to believe that Romney would promote policies which are threatening to his or her political philosophy not because Romney is LDS, but because Romney is, as you put it, a narrow-minded conservative throwback. The stereotyping here is incidental, rather than an actual reason for liberal opposition.

   July 27, 2012 at 6:07 pm | Reply