Q: Why do small-town voters tend to vote against their own economic interest?

A: Because they have been conditioned to believe that American government works on an either/or tack – free trade with guns, or protectionist socialism with no guns.

Since, after 30 years (or whatever) neither party has seriously addressed these folks’ economic concerns, they cling to the ISSUE of guns as one they can score points with in the electoral superbowl that is the Presidential Election.

I don’t think Obama meant these people cling to their guns or religion as a distraction from their economic distress; I think he meant they cling to the issue, despite its irrelevance to their kitchen sink, in much the same way a normally rational citizen might break the law to bury a red sox jersey in the new yankee stadium. They just want their team to win.

McCain, on the other hand, will surely push for them, although he is likely to meet with little success.