Lessons From Flyover Country

Toby Harnden from the Telegraph just completed a road trip across America for that newspaper. (I've mentioned that before.) Today he sums up the experience and notes that there is a difference between what is taken as conventional wisdom by the political elites and the reality on the ground out in the heartland of America. Candidates from both parties need to read what Harnden writes today.

While we found many people who hated Mrs Clinton, those who loved her were few and far between. Certainly, many said they would vote for her, but the reasons cited tended to be her status as the top Democrat, the fact that she was battle-tested against Republicans and - for some women - the fact that she would be the first female president.

Such support might register in the opinion polls, but could melt away should the former First Lady lose in Iowa. And the frequently expressed nightmare for Democrats is that she will win their party's nomination but lose to a Republican next November when most Americans decide they don't much like her.

"I'm always amazed how we can screw things up," said Steve Ayers, a coffee-shop owner in Hannibal. "Maybe the way we screw it up this time is by nominating Hillary - across the Midwest that would be the only way of unifying Republicans."

Views about President George Bush ranged from vitriolic hostility to mild disappointment. But many seemed to view him as irrelevant in terms of the 2008 election, not least because no Republican candidate is trying to assume his mantle…….

……The great and the good of Washington decreed long ago that Mr Giuliani, who favours abortion and gay rights and has previously advocated gun controls, was too liberal to secure the Republican nomination. Not so in the flyover states, where in the post-9/11 world, defending America trumps everything else among conservatives.

"I have always admired Giuliani, especially after 9/11," said Grita Poehle, a German-born new citizen in San Diego. "If he can do for America what he did for New York, that would be good."

If there was a single message from Americans everywhere, however, it was that they cannot stand politicians. "They all lie all the time," stated the Hertz attendant at the airport in Wichita, Kansas. "The 2008 election? I wouldn't cross the road to vote anyone," vowed our waitress at the Village Inn in Casper, Wyoming.

Apart from the war on terror, the issue we were confronted by again and again was illegal immigration - a preoccupation of Democratic as well as Republican voters. "We did everything legally and so should they," said Ljiljana Zezelj, 38, a new citizen from Croatia. "Nothing will work in this country until we secure our borders," said Laura Dietz, a retiree in Phoenix, Arizona.

There is much more and I'd urge you to go read the whole thing. The point is that a lot of the conventional wisdom is generated cities far from the heartland. Much of that conventional wisdom bears little resemblance to the reality out in the middle of the country. Washington politicians tend to react to the loudest voices - but those strident, insistent voices don't really speak for most of the people. It is a good idea to keep that in mind.