THE UNSPOKEN ISSUE – AT 9:13 A.M. ET:  "It's the economy, stupid," is the line we hear so often at election time.  And, of course, the economy is a giant issue this time around.  Most pundits insists that it's the only issue.

I politely dissent.

There is another issue just as large, if not larger, and it inevitably plays a role in all elections.  That issue is culture.  Even before many Americans vote the economy, they vote their culture.  There is a comfort level they must feel with the candidate for whom they vote.  It may have to do with race, or accent, or religion, or even style, or all of those, and many more cultural attributes.  Region of the country might be important, or economic background.  Or it may just be a gut feeling.

How else do we account for the fact that so much of Obama's base is rigid?  They will vote for no one else, despite the obvious and catastrophic failures of his administration.  To some extent, it's culture.  "Barack is one of us," some would say.  To others, he is their 1960s dream, a reflection of the simple-minded sloganeering of their youth.

There's a wonderful story told by one of my professors at the University of Chicago.  Kermit Eby was a theologian by training, but he had spent time in the labor movement and knew its ways and passions.  He told us the story of Jimmy Hoffa, the corrupt president of the Teamsters, and how Hoffa would go around from union hall to union hall speaking to the members.  He'd get up in front of them – we're talking 1950s prices now – and he'd say something like, "You men see this suit I'm wearing?  Hickey-Freeman, $300.  You see this watch?  Longines, $150.  You see these shoes?  Florsheim, $27.95."  And he'd go on like that, and the men would begin to cheer.  They couldn't afford those prices themselves.  They couldn't dream of them.  You might think they'd resent their leader, who could afford them.  But they didn't.  They cheered because one of our guys had made it. 

You know what that is?  It's culture.  Jimmy Hoffa was them. He was their dreams.

And so it is with Obama.  The Obama culture has become a powerful part of the American political landscape, and it is up to us to convince at least some of its followers that they can strive for something better.  In the meantime, they will march together...right off a cliff.  It is culture.  It is their comfort zone.  Policies, even results, are secondary. 

July 2, 2012