Dan

Calabrese

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October 20, 2008

The Conservative Snoot Brigade Turns on Palin . . . and the Base

It’s erupted. Sensing losses of historic proportions, conservatives seem not to be waiting for the official results to start dividing into camps. And while Sarah Palin is the nominal reason for the schism, you can see by digging a little deeper that she’s only a symbol.

A certain faction of the conservative punditry has now gone pedal-to-the-metal in its disdain for Palin. The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan – who was the first of the right’s chattering classes to turn full-bore against President Bush – last week joined the likes of Kathleen Parker, Heather MacDonald, David Brooks and a host of others in excoriating Palin for little more than the manner in which she expresses herself.

An interesting complaint, this. If a vice president’s (or president’s) job is to express oneself eloquently, by all means vote for Barack Obama. Palin’s substantive appeal arises from the manner in which she has governed Alaska.

But about that whole eloquence thing: Palin has had two opportunities to present herself on a national stage on her own terms – her convention speech and her debate with Joe Biden. Both times, the bipartisan intelligentsia confidently expected disaster. Both times, Palin delivered with aplomb. When she travels the campaign circuit, she draws huge crowds and they love her.

But this simply will not do for those within the punditry who want to hear you quote Voltaire even as you make reference to subcommittee reports and continuing resolutions. Noonan is horrified that Palin drops her Gs (hardworkin’, strainin’) and says “mom and dad” instead of “mother and father.” The larger cabal chose to judge Palin primarily by her performance in interviews with dinosaur network anchors – spectacles that amounted to little more than a one-way game of Trivial Pursuit in which Palin had to guess which version of the Bush Doctrine it was that Charlie had in mind that night.

These folks are getting blowback from the rest of the conservative base for acting like elitists. They are guilty. But that’s not the worst of their sins. Palin is being labeled a know-nothing by people who have no idea what she knows. Witness Brooks’s cocksure declaration that Palin doesn’t like “ideas,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. Witness Noonan’s scolding disapproval that Palin eschews ambush press conferences, and her astounding speculation: “She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.”

What Palin understands is how to govern. She understands how to say no to spending that doesn’t serve the public interest. She understands how to bring issues to resolution that have lingered for too long. Palin has not been a perfect governor, nor a perfect conservative. It is true that she joined in lobbying for the Bridge to Nowhere at first. But what matters is not what she once said, but what she ultimately did, which was to officially declare the state in opposition to the project. If it took her time to come around – slap on the wrist – come around she did.

There are reasonable objections one can raise to Palin as vice president. Ideally, I would prefer someone more familiar with the ways of Washington, since the job’s most daunting challenge is the prospect of stepping in as president on a moment’s notice. Joe Biden could do that. But once he did, what kind of president would he be? He would not be a pro-growth, free-market believer who supports America’s role in shaping a more free and democratic world. Palin would be. If, in the course of doing so, she would utter some phrases that make Peggy Noonan cringe, America would survive.

But this is about more than just Palin. She and McCain do not appear headed for victory, and even if they somehow pull it off, they will still face a heavily Democratic Congress. Conservatism is not in ascendancy, and the fabric of the movement is starting to tear as different factions part company with each other. The erudite East Coast thinkers are no longer disguising their disdain for the grassroots Bible Belters, who love Palin. The base, in turn, is storming the gates and demanding to know why those we supported – both in power and in the punditry – fumbled so much of the agenda and now are on the verge of fumbling away the power to advance it.

Neither side is perfect. Both sides have been too willing to blame the failures on President Bush instead of the erstwhile Republican Congress, which deserves far more of it for lacking the courage to enact reforms that Bush championed. But on the whole, the base has the better argument.

Conservatism missed a golden opportunity beginning in 1995, but especially in 2001, because the bright lights we sent to Washington knew how to win arguments, but didn’t know how to govern such that their principles would become effective policy.

It’s easy for East Coast pundits to scoff at the barbarians. Throw in with commoners who drop their Gs, and it’s hard to feel proud of your own intellectual heft. Conservatism had its run with people who could turn a phrase and score debate points, but couldn’t get a damn thing done when handed the levers of power.

If the base would now prefer to give the hockey mom a shot, since at least she has accomplished things when given a chance, the snoot brigade has only itself to blame.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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