Ding Dong the Dems Are Dead

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 10, 2003

Byline: John Elvin, INSIGHT

Ding Dong the Dems Are Dead

The title of the article in one of the left's flagship journals, The Nation magazine, is "Endangered Species of the American South: What the Democrats Must Do to Survive." Though the article promises to tell how to get the ailing Democratic Party back on its feet, in fact it reads more like an obituary. One rural Democratic leader fairly much sums up the sentiment found by reporter Bob Moser in his foray into the heart of Dixie with the comment that it will take "50 years from the last election" for the party to recover.

Forty years ago, Moser notes, it was the Republicans who were meeting in small back rooms of restaurants and cajoling someone anyone to make a run for office, any office. The reporter's analysis of what has occurred since includes an interesting spin. "White supremacists" have switched parties as a result of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts of 1964, and the many potential black Democratic voters just aren't going to the polls.

Another factor in the Democrats' demise, according to this analysis, is that conservative Southern churchgoers used to believe that religion and politics didn't mix. Now, "conservative churches have grown into a formidable political force." And there's one more dang thing: Yankees.

A bunch of Northern professionals headed South during the economic boom years that now are a fond memory, and most of them vote Republican. Don Aiesi, a political scientist at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., told the magazine that these transplants vote Republican because they don't want to pay taxes and also because they like to keep up with the Joneses. In today's South, the Joneses are in the GOP.

Following a lengthy survey of how bad things are for Democrats in the South, we finally get to the promised recovery tips. They are a tad thin: inspire black voters, promise to improve the economy and find a candidate who will be the "Democratic Goldwater," a reference to the late Sen. Barry Goldwater, a presidential candidate who gathered up a fervent following by offering "a choice, not an echo." In a nutshell, Moser's Southern strategy calls for "a fresh populist message" as the magic formula. And who is offering that? The writer surveys the current Democratic field and reports his findings: nary a soul.

May I Take Your Order? It's in the Official Script

Have you noticed how rare the personal comment has become in dealing with folks behind a counter or desk, or when "conversing" with customer-service people over the phone? Out in the countryside, stopping at a general store for a Moon Pie and an RC Cola, you may wind up in a conversation about the sort of winter that lies ahead, or who's horse got loose last night or how to deal with back pain. But in urban life, one often has the feeling of talking to a robot and that's no accident. The behavior of many employees who deal with the public is scripted and monitored these days, right down to words and phrases. McDonald's has its "Six Steps of Window Service" that must be initiated within three seconds of the customer's arrival, and Starbucks has an elaborate "chatty and sincere" script to make the customer feel special, to mention but two of the firms employing scripting.

Scripting is common in fast-food restaurants, mass retail stores and telephone call centers, according to an article in Dollars & Sense, a labor-oriented magazine devoted to "economic justice." Worker behavior in such situations is monitored in various ways, from secret shoppers (known professionally as "service-quality auditors") who note whether they were asked about "paper or plastic," to various high-tech forms of oversight that register employee stress levels and other emotional factors.

What is interesting is that customers tend to appreciate the robotic routine; they quite often are in a big hurry and could care less about the person with whom they are dealing. And employers demand it because their profits depend on volume. For years we've feared that robots would take over the world. Given the scripting trend, who'll know the difference?

At Proper Arm's Length: Rules For Dancers

Those who keep a critical eye on how the more libidinous in society behave long have been concerned about the evils of dancing. While the concern is probably pre-Dionysian, it certainly was alive and well in 1922. A poster displayed at a Website established by the Social Welfare History Archives of the University of Minnesota Libraries illustrates this, advising young ladies and gents of "The Correct Dancing Position."

Accompanying the text are two illustrations of proper dancing style showing a couple whose stance is so far apart you could almost run a Harley between them. Times changed rather swiftly; by 1940 a poster admonished: "Men who know say NO to prostitutes." Another poster from the 1920s in the collection advises on how to take a bath. One of the illustrations shows an unclad young fellow whose only tub is a good-sized bowl in which his foot is planted. He is advised to, first, use warm water and soap for three minutes; next, apply cold water for one-half minute; and, finally, rub down with a coarse towel for four minutes.