Country singer Merle Haggard once said he thinks Ronald Reagan should be up on Mount Rushmore. Merle Haggard and a lot of other white American males.
Since Reagan marched on the White House with his “stand tall” message, white men have been the go-to backbone of GOP election victories — and the Democrats’ Achilles heal.
In ‘08, they may be exactly that again. But Merle Haggard is going the other way, back to Democrat land. He says the GOP hasn’t delivered for the guys he sings for.
Up next, On Point: we’ll talk to Merle Haggard and Politico.com’s David Paul Kuhn about American politics and white men.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:
Merle Haggard, American country music singer, guitarist, and songwriter.
David Paul Kuhn, senior political writer for Politico.com, former chief political writer for CBS News, and author of the new book, “The Neglected Voter: White Men and the Democratic Dilemma.”
Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly.
Tags: Merle Haggard, race, voting
Merle Haggard and George Jones are still my favorites. There are good singers out there such as George Strait, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, and a few others, but Merle and George raised the bar and I’ve never heard anything that beats them to this day.
As far as politics goes, if the Republicans had met the public’s expectations, the media would have never let the public know; furthermore, could the Democrats have done better? I seriously doubt it.
Posted by Bama John, on December 23rd, 2008 at 5:48 pm EST