You got a problem with that?

I've heard a lot about "What's The Matter with Kansas" this campaign. I'm as guilty as anyone else of wondering about someone driving a Yugo with a Bush bumper sticker. Why vote against your economic best interests?

But what I've learned in the epic battle for the Democratic nomination is that Kansas doesn't have the problem. The Democratic Party does. Having been on the receiving end of smug, self righteous, condescending comments I now know how Kansas feels. Cheese Stakes anyone? The assumption that anyone voting for Senator Clinton shops at the dollar store (which we'll all be doing soon enough), drives a pick up truck, swills beer and shoots guns while reading the bible is bigoted.

When Senator Obama made his comments about "bitter" voters it wasn't elitist. It was obnoxious. You don't reach people by talking down to them. Which is why both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan (who I still abhor) were so good at what they did. Bill Clinton was always the smartest person in the room but he never made anyone feel stupid. That's a tough thing to pull off.

The whole "Kansas" thing is paternalistic. We know better. Really? Howard Dean? You know better? I knew as soon as you pulled the plug on Florida it was going to be disastrous. Any fifth grader doing a report on the Electoral college could have told you the same thing. Daddy made a big mistake! But we're supposed to trust you with your fifty state strategy.

Interestingly enough, I think voters are voting for their economic best interest when they vote for Senator Clinton. The Recession hand writing is on the wall. Obama offers platitudes of hope with no substance. Senator Clinton is wonkish to the extreme and people pulled the lever for her in states hard hit by the economic bust. I don't know if she can pull us out of the mess we're in, but I do not believe that anyone else could do better.