In a few places I’ve seen Obama’s bitter-Pennsylvanians remark interpreted as the “Thomas Frankian idea that getting-by small town voters are being snookered into voting Republican over Gods, Guns and Gays.” But Obama wasn’t saying that cultural issues are a distraction from economic issues — he was saying that downscale voters “cling to guns or religion” etc. because they’re bitter about economic circumstances. Correct me if I’m wrong — I haven’t read What’s the Matter With Kansas? — but isn’t that a little different from, and more radical than, Frank’s thesis?
