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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / “The Other Folks”

“The Other Folks”

by Michael D.|  October 31, 20088:38 am| 35 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008

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Saxby Chambliss certainly knows what he has to do to win the Georgia senate race. He’s got to pit white against black. He’s seen the rush to the polls by African Americans in Georgia’s early voting:

The Republican is outwardly confident, but there’s urgency in his voice as he tours North Georgia, trying to boost turnout in his predominately white base: “The other folks are voting,” he bluntly tells supporters.

The other folks are voting. I wonder what he means by that? (via)

Update:

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Reader Interactions

35Comments

  1. 1.

    TR

    October 31, 2008 at 8:40 am

    Two fun facts about Saxby Chambliss.

    1. He got out of the Vietnam Era draft because he said he had bad knees.

    2. His favorite hobby is jogging.

  2. 2.

    aimai

    October 31, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Well, it may work. If he can motivate enough spite votrers to get to the polls they can swamp Obama’s hope voters. Here’s hoping they can’t.

    aimai

  3. 3.

    cleek

    October 31, 2008 at 8:49 am

    to be charitable, "other folks" could just mean "Democrats"

  4. 4.

    Napoleon

    October 31, 2008 at 8:49 am

    OT for Zu Zu Pedals – did you see the NY Times article today on attorneys being in Ohio for the election?

  5. 5.

    anne

    October 31, 2008 at 8:53 am

    Same thing in FL

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/31/54758/404/148/647683

  6. 6.

    JL

    October 31, 2008 at 9:04 am

    Well this other folk voted for THAT ONE and Jim Martin. Somebody needs to let Saxby know that other folks mean white suburban mom.

  7. 7.

    yet another jeff

    October 31, 2008 at 9:12 am

    @cleek:

    Yes…Black Democrats. Oh…did that take some of the charitability away?

  8. 8.

    Bootlegger

    October 31, 2008 at 9:12 am

    What ever happened to "those people"? Ah, those were the good ‘ol days.

  9. 9.

    Nate

    October 31, 2008 at 9:19 am

    Oh come on. I hope this isn’t a preview of what the next four years will be like. It’s not a credible interpretation to say he was referring simply to the other candidates voters?

  10. 10.

    Zifnab

    October 31, 2008 at 9:20 am

    Sometimes that sort of thing works. Sometimes people see it as the shameless, me-first, asshole antics that they are. If asshole A and asshole B are running for Senate and asshole A says, "You’ve got to vote or asshole B will win!" my standard response is to tell asshole A to go fuck himself. But I’m not from Georgia so we’ll see how it goes.

  11. 11.

    JR

    October 31, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Fuck you, Saxby.

    Signed,
    An "other folk" from GA

  12. 12.

    Bootlegger

    October 31, 2008 at 9:23 am

    It’s not a credible interpretation to say he was referring simply to the other candidates voters?

    Then why not say "those democrats" or "those liberals"? How many times have we heard The Whippersnapper refer to the opposition as "those other folks"?

  13. 13.

    satby

    October 31, 2008 at 9:31 am

    It’s not a credible interpretation to say he was referring simply to the other candidates voters?

    No

    SATSQ

  14. 14.

    Comrade Jake

    October 31, 2008 at 9:35 am

    @anne:

    That is, to put it mildly, unfuckingbelievable.

    LOOK OUT FOR THE BLACKS! HERE THEY COME! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! AND COLLEGE STUDENTS! JESUS MARY AND JOSEPH!

  15. 15.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    October 31, 2008 at 9:48 am

    As I often do on my 15 minute commute, I tuned in to local talk radio to see what latest outrage had the wingnuts spooled up. They were waxing nostalgic about the good ol’ days, when you could suppress the vote of ni**ers, the poorly educated, and young people.

    They were even brainstorming some last minute strategies: heavy police presence at polling stations, and maybe a nationwide string of big rawk concerts to distract the yoots from voting.

    Best election ever.

  16. 16.

    scarshapedstar

    October 31, 2008 at 9:56 am

    According to Creative Loafing, Saxby is white as a sheet over the prospect of early voting, and he "wants everyone to know what’s happening." (And given the circumstances, I don’t think he’s talking about the finer points of shouting out ‘DYNOMITE!’)

    I can’t imagine what he’s referring to… aren’t people supposed to vote when it’s election time? :)

  17. 17.

    jake 4 that 1

    October 31, 2008 at 10:06 am

    maybe a nationwide string of big rawk concerts to distract the yoots from voting.

    Blahblahpalooza.

  18. 18.

    dww44

    October 31, 2008 at 10:19 am

    Well, to give credit where credit is due, Gov. Perdue (R) was quoted on GPB radio on Tuesday as saying that Democracy was about people voting and long lines were a good thing. But then, Perdue, like many others in the state, was a Democrat once upon a time not so very long ago. He has since 2004 made pronouncements that the voting process ought to be secure and easy.

    However, it would be nice if he urged our Katherine Harris wannabe, SOS Karen Handel, to open those early voting precincts through the weekend and/or extend the hours for today. She called the state Dem Party partisan for requesting such a move. Not the first time either. But, then, as our first Rep SOS ever, she has proven where her loyalties lie.

  19. 19.

    gbear

    October 31, 2008 at 10:28 am

    Blahblahpalooza.

    BrightShinyObjectpalooza?

  20. 20.

    D. Mason

    October 31, 2008 at 10:29 am

    Oh come on. I hope this isn’t a preview of what the next four years will be like. It’s not a credible interpretation to say he was referring simply to the other candidates voters?

    C’mon man you know the answer already. You knew that this would be the score as soon as Obama was the nominee. Anyone who criticizes, disagrees with or God forbid doesn’t vote for Obama? Racist, natch. Is there anything a white politician can say that won’t be interpreted as racist by hyper-sensative Obama fanbois? I didn’t think so.

    It doesn’t make one whit of difference how strongly the man himself pounds on ideas of racial transcendence or how far he distances himself from these disgusting elements of the Democratic party. His frothing supporters see men in a white sheets around every single corner and under every single rock. To them the nation is just one big lynch-mob waiting to happen. To the Democratic party they are the evangelicals, the people who elicit a cringe from sane Democrats whenever they start talking.

    My only consolation is that it might be kind of cathartic. After Obama is elected they will sceam and act like right wingers did whenever Bush came under attack. Talking about ODS and how racist people are for not being in love with Obama. Then the novelty will wear off, their screeching will be ignored and they will have created a scenario where someone with a swastika tattoo on their forehead could scream "nigger" in Obamas face and most people will roll their eyes when these fools start chirping about racism.

    In the meantime he can be running the country in a pragmatic and effective way, doing more to tear down the lines of racial division in 4 or hopefully 8 years than the whackaloons have ever tried to do.

  21. 21.

    yet another jeff

    October 31, 2008 at 10:35 am

    @D. Mason: Yeah, because it’s the lefties that don’t have a sense of humor.

  22. 22.

    yet another jeff

    October 31, 2008 at 10:39 am

    It’s Saxby Chambliss…christ on a cracker, man! Mr. "turn the sheriff loose and arrest every Muslim that crosses the state line."

    Great, I guess there will have to be some sort of dogwhistle for calling actual racists "racist" so as to prevent diatribes from wingnuts on how "frothing Democrats only call people racist because they don’t like Obama."

    Fucking persecution complex amp goes to Eleven.

  23. 23.

    Dave S.

    October 31, 2008 at 10:41 am

    He says the voters are near!

  24. 24.

    Josh Hueco

    October 31, 2008 at 10:45 am

    @D. Mason:

    Shorter D. Mason: I blame liberals for Republicans behaving like assholes.

  25. 25.

    Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)

    October 31, 2008 at 11:20 am

    @D. Mason:

    It doesn’t make one whit of difference how strongly the man himself pounds on ideas of racial transcendence or how far he distances himself from these disgusting elements of the Democratic party. His frothing supporters see men in a white sheets around every single corner and under every single rock.

    What a steaming load of bullshit.

    One candidate has run a principled, substance based, positive campaign. This candidate is highly educated, thoughtful, and calm.

    The other candidate has allowed his campaign to degenerate into a circus sideshow. His only message is "Not the other guy!"

    And yet the race is nearly tied. The only reasonable explanation is racism. How else would you explain it? Differences in ideology? Give me a break. As it turns out, the USA is still far more racist than even I thought it was. And these racists don’t wear white sheets and hide under rocks. They sit in the pews of their church every Sunday.

  26. 26.

    jcricket

    October 31, 2008 at 11:59 am

    And yet the race is nearly tied. The only reasonable explanation is racism. How else would you explain it?

    Tribalism plays a big part. My brother-in-law is your classic southern Republican voter. Rants on and on about "tax and spend liberals", etc. Voted for Dole, Bush, etc. Yet he voted "not Bush" (hold your nose and vote Kerry) last time and is voting Obama this time.

    He hasn’t had the same kind of conversion John Cole has, but once he realized the GOP was plain up nominating incompetent people, he couldn’t vote for them anymore. But it took him a long time.

    So I think tribal identities take a long time to break. Which is part of what’s so encouraging about the spread in support for Obama amongst 18-24 year olds. If the first election these kids are involved in is one where the GOP are crazy racist/homophobic fear-mongering nutjobs and the Democrats are sane, pragmatic & inclusive – what identity do you think these kids will form? Will they be rushing back to the GOP any time soon? What happens if 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 are all Democratic sweeps? How long will that reverberate. A long time, is my guess.

  27. 27.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    October 31, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    Hmmm, I read a diary just a few hours ago about the head Republican in Hillsborough County, FL who did the same thing, only he wrote an email and explicitly stated the blacks were voting in large droves. He’s scared shitless, I think. ;)

    Good!

  28. 28.

    jcricket

    October 31, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    Michael –

    The other folks are voting. I wonder what he means by that

    You know the GOP has been peddling this line for a while. Usually it’s "Democrats wouldn’t win without (insert ethnic group or minority here) voters".

    Palin and Chambliss are just saying what’s embedded in the statement – that some votes don’t count as much, that some Americans aren’t as American as others, etc.

    I suggest they keep it up, because their base of "Real Americans" (rural, white, evangelical, immigrant/gay-hating) is growing, no?

  29. 29.

    postmodernprimate

    October 31, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    D. Mason:
    Is there anything a white politician can say that won’t be interpreted as racist by hyper-sensative Obama fanbois?

    First they came for my overt racism, and I did not speak out.
    Next they came for my covert racism, and I did not speak out.
    By the time they came for me I wasn’t even sure if it was safe to tell a damn goddamn ethnic joke in the men’s locker room at the country club.

    I’m not sure how white people muster the strength to push on each new day. Even if historically 99.9999999999999999999% of all charges of racism have been accurate the real injustice is the .0000000000000000001% of times it’s leveled unfairly. If this happens again, or if my taxes get raised infinitesimally, or if I can’t put a 400 foot statue of Jesus on the courthouse steps, or if I can’t execute the retarded, or if I have to hit 1 for english I swear I’m taking both houses, the cars and all my possessions and sticking both fingers in my ear and screaming til someone pays attention to me. It’s all so unfair!

  30. 30.

    Kathy

    October 31, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    Perhaps he’s referring to in-state voters. I live in Illinois, and have already gotten two robocalls telling me to vote for him.

  31. 31.

    Shaggy

    October 31, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    The numbers so far are looking good in Georgia:

    35% of 1,767,139 early voters are African American. The Obama campaign said they might win Georgia if 30% of voters were AA. Wow. Almost 2 million early voters. This is surreal.

    http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/earlyvotingstats08.htm

  32. 32.

    MR. Bill

    October 31, 2008 at 4:35 pm

    I can’t imagine what he’s referring to… aren’t people supposed to vote when it’s election time? :)

    Oh, Mr. Chambiss only wants the right people to vote…
    you know, the Good People. His people…

    Its pretty weird, very long lines to early vote (today is the last day), people waiting all day in some Metro ATL counties…
    Here in the hills, waits were over an hour at the local Board of Elections, so people plan to early vote. I believe this is because they think these votes are less tamperable, a propositon I’m not too sure of. Two weeks ago, there was a 15 min. wait on a Tuesday at 10 in the morning.
    And this race may not be over. I’ve seen some polling that places Allen Buckley, the Libertarian, at 3-6 percent. Georgia Law requires a majority to win, meaning a run off is possible.
    It would be Martin vs Chambliss with no other candidates, and that might be a hard one for Martin to pull out. And I can’t stand any more campaign commercials…
    The commercials are ferocious and continuous during the local news (and I get mine from Chatt. TN.), one Chambliss, one Martin. I’ve seen as many as 7 that alternate…

  33. 33.

    Stephanie

    October 31, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    Chambliss uses fear to get people to vote for him. In 2000, he ran ads showing Max Cleland, a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair as in cahoots with Bin Laden. Now it’s fear that the scary "other people" are voting for Jim Martin. He knows exactly what he’s doing and "other people" mean "scary black people." He’s dishonorable, just like McCain. I hope Georgian’s vote Martin and kick Chambliss’ ass out of the senate. I for one did!

  34. 34.

    RandyH

    October 31, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    Saxby Chambliss is a SCUMBAG. Period. He got in on the scummiest of campaigns and he – HOPEFULLY – will LOSE due to a scummy campaign this time around.

    Let’s just wait and see. Things ARE different this time. I am most anxious to find out how everything in Georgia goes.

  35. 35.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    October 31, 2008 at 8:39 pm

    An ad by the Republican here in VA against the Democrat says (and puts the words on the screen) "HE IS ONE OF THEM."

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