The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Condescension turned voters away from Kerry

I am writing this letter in response to Damion Campbell's guest column on Nov. 5 ["Bush won: Time to leave the country," pg. 6].

I agreed with a lot of Sen. John Kerry's arguments and positions, but he and the Democratic Party missed a crucial factor that cost him the presidency.

In his column, Mr. Campbell repeats this same mistake. It is a mistake that a lot of politicians and media representatives make. That is, he assumes that people who support President Bush are stupid or "on meth." These comments came across as very arrogant. As a middle-class white male from the Midwest, I know the reaction of many Midwesterners to perceived arrogance and condescension - we become stubborn and more resolute in our positions.

I know that this is frustrating to a lot of liberals (it is frustrating to me). When liberals (and the mainstream media) are condescending and arrogant toward people who don't agree with them, they simply encourage more people to vote against them (liberals). This is why Bush won re-election.

This type of reflexive defensiveness is likely a two-way street, and I suggest that both conservatives and liberals at SIUC heed my following suggestion. This suggestion is neither unique nor new, but we seem to have forgotten its fundamental truth: If you want to change people, you need to change their hearts and minds! Arrogance, stubbornness, and forcing policies and laws down people's throats does not work.

There appears to be some fundamental ideological divide in this country, and there is some lip service given to "crossing the isle" and "finding common ground," but nobody (and I do mean nobody) has been effective in giving up the vitriol and really working to meet halfway. Liberals need to tone down the arrogance, and conservatives need to tone down their self-righteousness. Until then, every election from now on will turn out like '04. Is that what we really want?

Peter E. Jaberg
graduate student, psychology

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