There is, however, one more point that looms underneath all of these arguments. In the spirit of the time let’s call it Conservativephobia. The soft-core Obama supporter is terrified at being thought conservative or right-wing. He will pick out certain conservative icons — often Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin — for attack and ridicule. These are almost ritualistic. To get along with his social milieu and retain social prestige he must resist the lure of the devil. Loathing on the surface conceals a real fear of being transformed into some kind of monster – a drooling, racist, xenophobic hick clinging to guns and religion.
One can only hope that in the secrecy of the ballot box this status-panic will be shed and after pulling the lever for Mitt Romney, the soft-core Obama supporter will tell everyone that he voted for the president.
Which leads me to a prediction:
If Obama wins, he will be elected by those who stayed home because they thought Romney not conservative enough.
If Obama loses, it will be because of people who voted for Romney and then lied about it.
