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Voters gun for small-town Texas
Politics
Tuesday November 4th 2008
In the heart of die-hard Republican Texas, small-town values are king, and nowhere more so than the annual turkey shoot. David Nalle speaks to his fellow gunslingers about the spectre of an Obama government
Tuesday November 4th 2008
Political discussion can be tricky when everyone has a shotgun. Photograph: David Nalle
In Texas, traditional small towns are undergoing a transformation as the city of Austin expands and turns them into ex-urban bedroom communities. The change is dramatic. Here in the town of Manor, within the memory of our oldest residents, kids rode their horses to school and put their rifles in a gun rack in the classroom. Today, the whole city has free wireless internet and is linked to the rest of the world by highways and commuter rail. Yet old traditions continue side by side with new, and many who move here do so because they want to share in the sense of community and small-town tradition.
Every fall since 1954 we’ve held the Lions Club Turkey Shoot. (We shoot paper targets, not live turkeys.) And every four years turkey-shoot season overlaps with a presidential election, so while we're not shooting we're sitting on the tailgates of our pickups drinking beer and talking about the candidates.
The shoot attracts a diverse group – farmers, business owners, retired veterans and labourers alike – but it’s not what you’d call a typical Democrat environment. (Although I did see a couple of Barack Obama stickers in the parking lot, and it's no secret that the iconic Democratic governor Ann Richards was known for her skill as a hunter – but being a Democrat in Texas is not like being one in a northeastern state.
In the middle of both an election and an economic crisis, what I heard this week at the shoot was a strong dissatisfaction with both political parties and the state of our electoral system. Obama supporters are hardly in the majority here, but it was hard to find anyone willing to express great enthusiasm for John McCain either.
A few people expressed real dread at the possibility of an Obama win and Democratic free-reign in the White House and Senate for a few years. There is this fear that Obama's plans for change and his promises to "spread the wealth" will make things difficult for anyone who works for a living.
On the other hand, McCain seems not to be bursting with great new ideas. Sarah Palin has a certain appeal to any man with a gleam in his eye and a gun in his hands, but her outsider background is offset by her gaffes and inexperience, leaving us conservatives wanting more.
What everyone at the shoot agreed on was that this election has dragged on far too long and become more contentious than people are comfortable with. Open discussion of the election isn't as easy as it was in past years because people are getting touchy and fed up – not a good thing when everyone has a shotgun.
Many Americans have a deep distrust of government, and the big and expensive dog-and-pony show we have every four years seems increasingly meaningless. Both parties promise change and reform, but we've lost confidence now because we know that these guys got us into this mess in the first place.
At this year’s shoot, most of the discussion turned to local issues and campaigns. With our shooting venue threatened by highway expansion and new home construction, we're likely to have to change our location. This could become a political issue and our votes are now being driven by which local politician is most willing to stand up for our gun rights and keep small-town traditions going.
Beyond that, we're just glad the election is going to be over tomorrow.
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