In the Halls of Valhalla
In a gathering of the self-righteous over the weekend, who were celebrating a dying campaign, Rick Santorum said something funny and something interesting, each in its own way truthful.
“We will never have the elite, smart people on our side.”
That was the funny thing. Now, the interesting thing.
“When it comes to conservatism libertarian types can say, oh, well you know, we don’t want to talk about social issues. Without the church and the family, there is no conservative movement, there is no basic values of America.”
The sign on the door says, “Smart people need not apply.”
Conservatives have always tried to appeal to people who believe that they posses a simple, homespun wisdom through coded messages. But, as proving conservatives credentials becomes more demanding, it makes sense that they’ve gone from subtly alienating thinking people, to openly alienating thinking people.
It is an interesting admission. One that reveals the dead end road that modern Republicanism has decided to take.
BTW – Bill Clinton was a genius at keeping the homespun on the D team by drawing clear contrasts and simply saying, “Look. The Republican stuff doesn’t work.”
You can’t do that when you are constantly trying to find “middle ground.”
The appeal of conservatism and fundelmentalism are the same. Everything is either good or bad, black or white there is now need to think about complex problems or issues