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#&*$ THE REDNECKS, THEY DON'T VOTE FOR US ANYWAY. Or so the GOP seems to think. Here's Hotline:
�White rednecks� who �didn�t show up to vote for us� partly cost GOPers their cong. majorities, Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) told fellow Republicans today. And Putnam, seeking the post of GOP conference chair, chided ex-Chair J.C. Watts (R-OK) for ruining the conference�s ability to serve its members.Three Republicans in the room independently confirmed to the Hotline the substance and context of Putnam�s remarks. But Putnam�s chief of staff insists that the remarks were taken out of context.Imagine if Nancy Pelosi uttered the same remark, then compare that imaginary firestorm with the one likely to result from Putnam's comments. It's all well and good to argue that Democrats carry seeds of elite condescension towards low-income whites. What's foolish is to think the GOP's powerbrokers aren't precisely as disconnected, though with a heapin' helpin' of opportunism and exploitation thrown in for good measure.--Ezra Klein
