Obviously the speech wasn’t aimed at me, and it isn’t exactly something an undecided would listen to and say “You know, what? That there’s a smart woman who’s really going to get things done.” Nor was it really aimed at any (of those few, those proud, those lonely) principled Republicans who are concerned about government spending, foreign policy, etc (If you have two brain cells to rub together, you already know she’s lying about her earmark opposition – certainly you’re not dumb enough to believe that she’ll be any more honest once in office). So what was that all about, then? I’ve been exchanging notes with a smart friend about this morning, and she boiled it down:
The culture wars are back.
Nothing much to say about that, really, other than that I believe she’s dead on.
Other takes worth perusing include James Fallows’ deconstruction of the speech. I think Andrew Sullivan’s observation that:
the GOP reflects some of the most ADD elements in the culture. There is no sense of accountability, no real pretense that anything is for much more than the present, and reality is constantly shaped to fit the demands of the micro-news-cycle.
is really quite important. If that’s what wins political races, we’re really screwed. Personally, I just can’t go down that path. But we have a major political party that seems to exist for little more than paving it. Sullivan also tips us off to this example of it:
So you have Mitt Romney — one of the wealthiest men ever to run for office — critiquing east-coast elitism, and Mike Huckabee — who is an economic populist in disguise — critiquing big government, and Sarah Palin — who voters don’t know one iota about — critiquing Barack Obama’s biography.
We can point and yell about hypocrisy and intellectual bankruptcy all we want – but it doesn’t matter to them. You can’t win people over with concepts that are meaningless to them. There are vast swaths of Virginia, right now, where people went nuts over this speech. Finally, someone just like us! Yup. Just *like* you.
Peej
But you don’t think culture wars ever go waway, even temporarily, though–right? Palin’s speech mostly just turned a floodlight back on the one(s) over here. But it’s nothing new.
(I’m probably taking the comment way too literally.)
***
“You can’t win people over with concepts that are meaningless to them. ”
This is at the heart of the naive optimism I was refering to, before. It’s a hard lesson to learn, and unfortunately, it takes a long time to learn, as simple as it is.
MB
No, they don’t really go away, I suspect. Let’s call this Sarah’s Surge, then.
~
I can tell who’s side Michael Chabon is on!