Description: The networks, Kuhn says, behave as if "36 percent of the electorate in the general election just doesn't exist."

Question: What issues appeal to the white male voting block?

Transcript: One thing you should keep in mind is, as I watch the television networks, I literally was watching MSNBC when I . . . And I saw them go from the Latino block, to African Americans, to women.  And there’s if like this 36 percent of the electorate in the general election just doesn’t exist – these just regular White guys; the guys talked about in Bruce Springsteen’s music.  As large as the Latino population is, there will be . . . the White men voting in the next election, if you will, will be five times larger; five times larger than Latino men and women combined.  So it’s not as if Hispanic voters don’t matter.  They matter very much, and they’re especially key in certain swing states with high growth rates, especially among Latinos.  It’s just that if you’re gonna talk about Hispanics as a swing block, and you’re gonna talk about African-Americans, and you’re gonna talk about women, you should probably also talk about the second largest voting block which is these white guys – and especially the working and the middle class white guys which are the . . . by far the voters that the Democrats lost in recent decades.  And not only in the North but also in the South.  And especially I would emphasize not only in the South, because it’s often conceived incorrectly when this misinterpretation of polling numbers that this was all a trend in the South.  It wasn’t.  And that’s pretty irrefutably clear when you look at the polls over the last 50 years.  And for that reason I think that these guys coming into the general election certainly have seen a Republican Party weaker on fiscal discipline, okay?  Absurd amounts of earmarks; absurdly large spending; increase in deficits.  They’ve been trailing a bit recently.  They’ve seen a Republican Party make massive mistakes on their strongest issue, which is war; national security; the war in Iraq, offering a huge opening for the Democratic Party.  So in other words they’re willing to reconsider.  The question is you don’t simply end one relationship and move on to your next relationship because your last relationship was awful.  You gotta be attracted to the other girl – or guy in this case; it doesn’t matter.  And so these men have to feel attracted to the Democratic Party for reasons of principle and policy.  And so they’re gonna be watching to see if, number one, the Democratic candidate equivocates; if the Democratic candidate appears not to have any principles.  Because it is clear from exit polling that these white guys more than any other voting block – women, minorities – vote on character issues, and we know this from the exit polls.

Question: What are those character issues?

Transcript: The character issues are sort of this belief that they believe in sort of classic principles; that they have maxims; that they’re willing to commit political suicide for a stance.  And then there are policies that matter to them.  They’re more likely to . . . They’re more supportive of the war in Iraq.  They’re not . . . They’re not happy with the war in Iraq.  They by majorities don’t believe that the war in Iraq is linked to the war on terror, actually.  But they’re still far less likely to wanna pull out troops.  They still shifted far slower than women in wanting to pull out.  In the beginning of this war, about 75 percent of men and women in this country favored the war.  Women dramatically turned much quicker than men against this war.  And there’s long historical reason, and gender outlook, and so forth, you know, that explains this.  But these men care about national security.  They do care about illegal immigration, especially working class.  These are the guys . . . Some of them work in construction jobs, and they’ve seen their jobs undercut by those who work for less wages.  And you know there . . . it’s . . . And as much as sometimes it veers into xenophobia, it more often does not.  They’re afraid of jobs being lost.  They’re afraid . . . You know they’re afraid of a competing market.  They’re economically unstable.  So the Democrats have to appear seriously to consider border enforcement on illegal immigration.  They have to appear to seriously want to win in Iraq and Afghanistan – use words like “win” – while accepting the reality of Iraq and possibly pulling for a pull out, if you will.  But in a respect it leaves Iraq, you know, as best as possible and certainly doesn’t dishonor the effort of those troops who went there.  And I remind you that 75 percent – three in four – of all losses in the war in Iraq are White guys; are White boys – 19, 20, 21 year olds – three in four.  So there, you know . . . That also explains in part why they have strong stances on national security overall.  And certainly they also have our . . . They also are less likely to live in cities and more likely to live in cities and are more likely to live in exurbs and suburbs and rural areas.  So they also have a different outlook in some regards.

Recorded on: 2/5/08