http://blogs.kqed.org/
Dear KQED,
I was disappointed by your November 1 story about the Marin County lady who switched to the GOP after 9/11. I know that she is entitled to portray her personal political evolution as she wants, but I think your coverage was softball and misleading. The take-home message seemed to be, "Don't just blindly follow the political views of your family or community; form your own opinions." That is fine, but she seemed to imply that Marin County people need to "wake up", think for themselves, and then of course they would choose to be conservative. I don't think that is an accurate characterization, especially because many Marin County liberals are much better informed (and get their info from much less biased sources) than Mrs. Wolters.
Like many Americans, 9/11 changed Wolters' worldview. But a decade later we know that many Americans (and our government) felt so fearful and vulnerable after 9/11 that they over-reacted and embraced controversial policies that weakened America, made the world more hostile, and could actually compromise our future safety. She recounted extreme cases of ostensibly liberal Bay Areans making insensitive comments after 9/11, and that somehow validated the GOP claim that the left despises America? Wolters admitted that she was politically uninformed prior to 9/11, so maybe if she researched US foreign policy history in the Middle East, she would realize that the US is not the only victim of foreign terrorism.
She then started to listen to "talk radio" (I assume she is referring to right-wing radio?) and Bill O'Reilly. So it's no surprise that she turned conservative if those were her only sources of info, without exposure to counter-arguments. Was she truly persuaded by superior conservative views, or was than the inevitable outcome of her exposure to those media?
I am sorry that she felt alienated by her political beliefs, and I commend her for becoming politically active, but I disagree with her implicit dismissal of those who see things differently. I don't think that she should complain about political intolerance against her when she is not really empathizing and extending the olive branch either. Contrast her to the other political switcher, Mr. Patrosso. Biased media didn't persuade him to "wake up" and realize his "true beliefs". He was a die-hard Republican for most of his life, but his party left him - straying from its fiscal conservative traditions and embracing religion-fueled intolerance. Unlike Wolters, Patrosso wasn't speaking ill of conservatives as people, and made his decision to switch based on facts and the conduct of GOP leaders.
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