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AnimusRex -> It's George Wallace's GOP (2/28/2010 6:39:25 PM)
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Jonathan Rauch has a fascinating article out in National Journal about how the GOP has embraced George Wallace's vision of America.
He juxtaposes quotes from Wallace and Palin and they are strikingly similar, in tone and thought.
Sample:
Palin: "Voters are sending a message." Wallace: "Send them a message!"
Palin: "The soul of this movement is the people, everyday Americans, who grow our food and run our small businesses, who teach our kids and fight our wars.... The elitists who denounce this movement, they just don't want to hear the message." Wallace: "They've looked down their noses at the average man on the street too long. They've looked [down] at the bus driver, the truck driver, the beautician, the fireman, the policeman, and the steelworker...."
He makes the point that the modern conservative movement is based on a sense of grievance, that the educated elites are not only stealing from the working class, but looking down their nose and condescending to them.
What caught me was the conclusion:
Conservatism is wary of extremism and rage and anti-intellectualism, of demagoguery and incoherent revolutionary rhetoric. Wallace was a right-wing populist, not a conservative. The rise of his brand of pseudo-conservatism in Republican circles should alarm anyone who cares about the genuine article.
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