“In the 1996 election, Bill Clinton had a problem. The women who came out in droves for him in ‘92, split their vote in the ‘94 midterms, handing over control of the House and the Senate to the Republican Party. As his team stared ahead at his re-election bid, they knew they had to win those women back. So, after a major polling effort to determine who exactly their undecided ladies were, Clinton turned his focus toward the most important swing vote in the election: the soccer moms.
The soccer mom ushered in a new era of political campaigning, an era of slicing and dicing the electorate, engineering the (predominately white) voting bloc characters that campaigns have chased after. Security Moms. Nascar Dads. Joe Six Pack. Walmart Moms. “
I’ve used to listen to the radio a lot. I’m a big fan of Ira Glass’ This American Life, and Radiolab is another favorite. Now with podcasting storytelling has gone to a whole ‘nother level. I’m loving all of it.
On the eve of the general election, this episode of Radiolab really hit me. I gotta say the last interview of “Francis” kind of gobsmacked me. Don’t skip, and listen at regular speed.
