I Think This Is Very Revealing
I should say so. This is from Ken Blackwell’s site quoting Ted Strickland (HT Right Angle Blog):
Strickland demeaned Ohio’s working men and women saying, “Without education, I probably would be doing what my brothers have done with their lives, finishing concrete for a living.â€
Let’s just say I’m not hearing a lot of respect for the blue-collar guys and gals in that statement.
Ask any blue-collar guy what he would like to have done for a living and I’ll bet he doesn’t mention blue-collar work.
Comment by Kevin Irwin — September 22, 2006 @ 8:41 am
I think the “with their lives” part is what struck me, as in “this is ALL they have done,” as if their work not only defines them, but is absolutely everything we need to know about them.
Comment by TBlumer — September 22, 2006 @ 11:10 am
My reaction was very different. I’m really surprised the ‘Strickland made a gaffe’ line has spread as much as it has.
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My reaction:
Strickland is roughly the same age as my parents. Remember this was before birth control was so prevelant, and farm families had a natural incentive to be big for the additional labor. With 10 or so kids in the family, your goal is to support those in the household. Except for the oldest boy (who would get the farm), the older and middle kids were on their own after high school. They’d usually ‘not fall far from the tree’, finding jobs less than a day’s drive away, unless marriage or the military sent them farther.
Family size became smaller mid-century, but the paradigm was still similar. The parents were still just getting by or saving for their own financial future. In my non-statistical observation, it’s a relatively recent phenomena (or has it always been a common suburban thing?) that even the oldest should get help to go to college. In my parents family, the youngest couple kids got to go to college, since by then the grandparents were financially solid enough to help; also, cash flow was freed up, with no kid expenses in the household.
{FWIW, myself and all my siblings all paid our own way (me full-time on scholarships and paying my own room-and-board, the siblings went part-time over a decade)}
Strickland was just relating the factual background, and how the family circumstances influenced where he ended up in life. Rural families may likely connect with this background (and perhaps also other lower income families, especially ones with a ‘first one to go to college’ child in it)
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Summary: Strickland is from a rural district. Everyone knows everybody, so slick talk won’t get you anything. This was simply Strickland describing his family background: plain talk about his early influences, not a slick savvy scripted description designed to appeal to all the right voting blocks. It makes him ‘one of us’ even though he’s moved away. Criticism by the fancy talkers will backfire.
[Now, I vote on issues and policies, not emotional ‘I like him’ stuff. However, some of my sometimes naive, ‘too honest for their own good’ family members could have connected with this background if they were OH voters.]
Refs:
http://www.nixguy.com/?p=1802
http://rightangleblog.com/?q=node/818
Comment by cornfed — September 22, 2006 @ 9:35 pm
#3, I understand everything you’re saying, but the “with their lives” part still goes overboard with me. I think a rural Republican expressing the same thoughts would be in hot water right now.
Comment by TBlumer — September 23, 2006 @ 7:39 am
Speculating whether or not a Republican would be in “hot water” for saying “their lives” is moot. In normal discourse, what you’ve “done with your life” usually means “what career did you pick”, No? Also, he went on to say “There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s honest work, but it’s hard work…”
Comment by Mark Jablonski — September 23, 2006 @ 7:48 pm
#5, I still see arrogance and condescension in the orginal quote, and a “cover my butt” approach to the following quote you cited. We’re just going to have to agree to disagree.
Comment by TBlumer — September 23, 2006 @ 8:55 pm