Look, I grew up in an incredibly small town in rural Tennessee and have spent the majority of my life in areas so sparsely-populated they could barely sustain a single movie theater or bowling alley. I know small towns. I like them. I don't live in one right now, but at a later point in my life I could see myself moving back.

However I don't buy the small-towns-are-inherently-superior argument that Republicans tried to shove down our throats from the RNC last week. It's nothing more than cynical pandering and identity politics. One of the central Republican arguments from last week was that Obama is too "cosmopolitan" (a phrase uttered without irony by the former mayor of one of the biggest cities in the world), and as a result, different.

The fact is, small town communities tend to be pretty homogeneous, both in demographics and ideology. The slower-paced lifestyle and stronger sense of community is wonderful to experience, but if you're going to serve in the executive branch of one of the most diverse nations in the world, that shouldn't be your only perspective. The notion that small town Americans will, and should, vote for a candidate just because he/she understands "small-town values" is ridiculous and should be insulting.

There's no denying that some small town inhabitants hold stereotypes and look down on their urban counterparts (just as some people who have always lived in metropolitan areas look down on rural America). The problem is a lack of perspective on both parts. If you haven't spent time in both settings, you don't know what makes America tick. It's not one or the other, but unique contributions from both that give American its character. I would wholeheartedly back a proposal from either party to initiate a rural-urban exchange program, where small-town and big-city high school students swap places for a year. Both would be better off for the experience.

But Republicans know this, and so do Democrats. Like I said, it's nothing but political pandering. Criticizing small-town American is probably the only thing that can still be considered politically incorrect in today's climate. Which is why this segment from The Daily Show last week skewering the RNC was so brilliant: