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Nothing better signals the shift from class
war to brand war than the replacement of
"limousine liberal" by "Volvo liberal,"
which began to appear in the late 1970's. The new
phrase didn't simply downshift the prototypical liberal
to a member of the middle class, but turned
political choice into a kind of lifestyle preference.
That was when the right began to tar liberals with a
kind of guilt by brand association—they were the
sorts of people who consumed Chardonnay, brie,
latte, and bottled water, and who shopped at
Starbucks or Restoration Hardware. The Volvo was
ideal for this sort of stereotyping—not only was it an
ugly car from socialist Sweden which people bought
simply because they thought it was safe, but its name
had a serendipitously gynecological resonance.
The new consumer stereotype of liberals was
neatly summarized in a television ad that the archconservative
Club for Growth ran during the 2004
Iowa presidential primary, back when Howard Dean
was still the leading Democratic contender. An
announcer asks a middle-aged couple leaving a barbershop
what they think of Dean's plan to raise taxes
on families by $1900 a year. The man responds: "I
think Howard Dean should take his tax-hiking, government-
expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating,
Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading. . ." — and then his wife picks up the litany: ". . . body-piercing,
Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show back to
Vermont, where it belongs."
That was meant to be a ludicrous demographic
hodgepodge, of course (you picture Marilyn Manson
on the porch of his house in Rutland, TiVoing "Curb
Your Enthusiasm" and laughing so hard at Maureen
Dowd's column that he almost chokes on his unagi
cone). But actually there was never much truth to the
political stereotyping of consumer preferences. A
recent article in Demographics Today reports that the
majority of brie consumers are Republicans—not
surprising, considering that brie is a lot easier to
find in the gourmet shops in upscale suburbs than
in grocery stores in working-class neighbourhoods.
But whoever actually buys the stuff, it's hard to think
of anything that stands in better for the right's
stereotype of liberals—soft, pale, runny and French. |
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HARDCOVERISBN 978-1-58648-386-9 Pub date: 07/05/06 Price: $26.00/34.95 Canada 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 272 pages none Carton Quantity: 28 Current Events, Politics, Popular Culture Selling Territory: W Rights:
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