tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post3125146111692498185..comments2024-02-21T05:16:22.788-05:00Comments on Two Weeks Notice: A Latin American Politics Blog: The Latin American Voter MattersGreg Weekshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15765114859595124082noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-4587462746854318452016-05-12T17:06:36.642-04:002016-05-12T17:06:36.642-04:00You wrote in your comment that he sees voters as p...You wrote in your comment that he sees voters as pragmatic, asserting he agrees with me. I am telling you I do not believe that is accurate. He sees voters as ideological, NOT pragmatic, which is evident in this article and his past articles. That is fundamentally what I disagree with. The U.S. matters to him, not to the voters. The labels matter more to pundits than the voters.Greg Weekshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15765114859595124082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-23556028046676320892016-05-12T16:55:34.900-04:002016-05-12T16:55:34.900-04:00I don't want to troll you, but why are we talk...I don't want to troll you, but why are we talking about Weisbrot's earlier articles than the one you cited? If I had understood you to mean Weisbrot's attitude rather than what he wrote in The Nation, I would have written something different.shah8https://www.blogger.com/profile/04537529816304128000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-17921504460016358702016-05-12T12:04:19.435-04:002016-05-12T12:04:19.435-04:00I don't think Weisbrot would argue voters are ...I don't think Weisbrot would argue voters are pragmatic. I think he would argue that voters are ideological (e.g. http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/03/21/obama-wrong-isolate-venezuela/XCiOn7e7R4M7pSq93J5LeI/story.html) and the shifts we see are based mostly on ideology rather than the actual performance of the government.Greg Weekshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15765114859595124082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21674624.post-59895885771471277082016-05-11T17:02:24.238-04:002016-05-11T17:02:24.238-04:00I have to scratch my head on this one. This is ba...I have to scratch my head on this one. This is basically non-responsive to Weisbrot's point. He'd agree with you that Latin American voters are pragmatic. He's saying that their pragmatism is suffocated in the weakest of countries. As such, do you actually believe that in the weakest countries cited, that voters are allowed to exercise their pragmatism? I mean, the Haitian saga with Martelly refusing to leave (and the general election violence with him at the helm) is fairly illustrative, no?<br /><br />The other, more exploratory point is that he believes right wing governments will create bad policies that ultimately undermines their legitimacy. Which is sort of your point...shah8https://www.blogger.com/profile/04537529816304128000noreply@blogger.com