Having lived in South Carolina for most of the past 25 years, I’ve often averred that the state Chamber of Commerce keeps a stable of “rednecks” to release when the national media come to town.

You know the ones — the folks who drive trucks, hunt deer (and even varmints, if they’re in the mood for a little chicken-fried squirrel) and, yes, put cheese in their grits. The latter is hardly a redneck pursuit these days, however, as grits have become the side dish du jour in the swankiest restaurants.

Mainly, the locals captured on camera are often unsophisticated, probably undereducated, and unaccustomed to editing their thoughts for public consumption. The accent common to many folks in the region — or as outsiders prefer, “them thar parts” — long ago has been identified by the motion picture industry as belonging to less-intelligent humans. Rare exceptions — the brilliant country lawyer who merely pretends to be dumber’n a box of rocks — prove the rule.

Thus, when members of the national media come to town every four years, they’re on the lookout for the stereotype they’ve memorized from afar. And, in a quirky gesture of reverse public relations, the Chamber obliges. Or so I’ve always figured, given that I know few people who actually talk that way. It isn’t inconceivable that these characters play up their role just a bit for the cameras. What else would one expect, anyway, when the candidates themselves fall into a weird sort of “Southern Tourette’s,” delivering inanities apparently gleaned from the visitor’s guide to “redneck” tropes?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/southerners-deserve-better-from-candidates/2012/03/13/gIQAdoyRAS_print.html