Can someone please define?

I can't define it. Jon Stewart had a hilarious bit where his reporters asked several Republican conventiongoers what it means - very few could (would?) answer it. Those that tried -- yikes! Odd for them to repeatedly imply that "small town" values are somehow superior to those in metropolitan areas. McCain himself hails from the a somewhat bigger than small town -- fifth largest city in the country. Are there not any Republicans living in cities? If there are, do they totally buy the claptrap about the superiority of small town values? If a Democrat lives in a small town, would they have "small town values"?

Well, that's my dilema. I can't define it either although it seems to be some type of 'code' that the Republicans respond to. I'm not sure that living in the isolation of a small town can really give you the exposure and knowledge of a living with a variety of people and experiences to make balanced choices for yourself.

Yeah, speaking of "the code" -- I had been mystified about why they were hating on community organizers -- aren't there any of them among Republicans? I was finally able to reach a conservative friend who can often interpret these Repub code words for me. (Yes, I do have Repub friends -- love them to death but will never understand their politics if I live to be 100...they're not the wingnuts, just people who are scared into thinking they'll have to pay more taxes.) Anyway, her theory is that "to a certain generation of Republicans, community organizers would be people like Dr. King and Cesar Chavez..." -- so it's subtle code for "organized minorities", i.e., not only racist, but people to be feared for 'mob' organizing. The more I learn the more terrified I get for all of us. I'll ask her about the 'small town values' schtick.

I think you called it right. It is a code, and I think racism is at the bottom of it. It's like "law and order" was a racist code in the 70s. Now, I'm an old white guy myself, and to hear the media I'm not ready to vote for Obama. Nonetheless I am, even though I'm an Independent who votes Democratic more often than Republican.

I think there are many white people around who are looking for a smoke-screen to hide their racism behind. They don't want to come out and say they're racists (though some brag about it) so they say Obama's not ready to lead, even while waxing ecstatic about the inexperienced Mrs. Palin being a heart-beat away from the Oval Office. If Obama loses and we get four more years of Bushonomics (pamper the rich and give "values" slogans to the working class), you can't convince me it's not because of racism.

I'm voting for Obama because of the issues, not the biographies. Supporting Bush 90% of the time is not good enough for me, and continuing the Shrub's attack on the real income of working Americans is not good enough for me, though I'm now retired and out of the rat-race. I know where my sympathies lie. I was born in the working class and had to work my way up the hard way. I simply do not understand those voters who seem to ignore issues and policy positions while going ga-ga over personality trifles. This is an "informed electorate"? It seems many people think they're voting for Mr. Popularity or Mr. Congeniality instead of determining the government's actions and priorities for the next 4 years.

And if Obama loses, I'll be sad, and not because I'm some rabid fan of a political celebrity, but because of what it will say about the sorry state of our democracy. After 8 years of Republican mis-rule, the American workers should be stampeding to an alternative. The Republican party will have to get a separation from the right-wing Christian establishment and focus on their "traditional values" of justifying tax cuts by working for a smaller government. In short, they'll have to be the party of fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets that they once were. Maybe then I can cast a vote for a Republican again. But this year? I wouldn't vote for a Republican for dog-catcher, as the cliche goes. And here in New Mexico, where I live, we've got an uncompassionate oil-man trying to beat out a fabulous guy, Tom Udall (who's right on all the issues), but I don't think he'll make it, and it looks as if the national Republican party's going to desert him and give this senate seat up for lost.

But Obama? There's still a lot of bigotry around parading as patriotism. We'll find out on November 4th.

As explained in my earlier post I have a friend who dabbles in local Republican politics, primarily to support local candidates she is familiar with. She's often helped me understand some of the more obscure (to me) Republican code words. Based on what she's heard, her sense is that "small town vaues" is a fairly straightforward marketing tool that (1) flatters working class voters in battleground states, who more often than not live in small towns, and (2) jives nicely as a sales slogan for Gov. Palin since it implies but doesn't explain how she offers some kind of 'added' value. It sounds less nefarious than their community-organizer bashing -- just a nonsense term that hopefully will flatter the working class voters into thinking they too have some kind of *special* values that those city-slickers (Obama) don't have or appreciate, but the Repubs are gifted enough to see their 'specialness' too. Blech...

Small towns (presumably) don't have black people in them.

There's your values....

in Southern Illinois.

One of the things that our small townspeople valued was a Sunday Morning Drive. Before going to church, you would drive around town and see who's car was parked at who's house overnight.

How is that for small town values?