Saturday, November 08, 2008
Jeffery Hart passes judgement.
Sarah Palin is now the heroine of the Republican base. Scary. During the campaign it became obvious that she is completely ignorant on the principal issues. It never became widely known that she is a religious nut: she believes in the imminent End of Days and the “Rapture,” in which the saved will be suddenly wooshed up to heaven—a notion that has no basis in scripture or anything else. She believes she was elected governor because of a laying-on-of-hands by an African clergyman who had run a witch out of town for causing automobile accidents.I think I get the gist of that comparison, but I feel I'm missing some nuance. Millions of American believe in the Rapture and such, and they are citizens too. Palin is the only national political figure that speaks to them directly, without smarmy condescension, because she's one of them. More than a Bryan, who was a lawyer and read Latin and Greek, she strikes me as more of a Huey Long figure. ¶ 9:11 PM
This stuff makes William Jennings Bryan look like Martin Heidegger.
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I don't like Palin in the least but having lived in Lousiana for a few years I don't think the Huey Long parallel works. Long was sort of a benevolent fascist who was all about wealth redistribution and corruption. While Palin's anti-corruption moves were exaggerated by the McCain campaign it's clear she really is an anti-corruption reformer albeit one willing to take federal money if they are giving it out.
With regards to Huey Long the level of corruption in Lousiana in that time was on par with Mexico City today. It's hard to even wrap ones mind around. Certainly both Palin and Long appealed as being "one of the guys" and on the religious issue.
I also think that many very conservative religious people really are tired of the media and many so-called elites talking down to them or thinking they are crazy. There is a sense among many that they are almost non-citizens or who ought be. It's hardly surprising they rally around people who take them seriously.
The trick is figuring out how to include them without necessarily buying into some of the more fringe ideas they support.
With regards to Huey Long the level of corruption in Lousiana in that time was on par with Mexico City today. It's hard to even wrap ones mind around. Certainly both Palin and Long appealed as being "one of the guys" and on the religious issue.
I also think that many very conservative religious people really are tired of the media and many so-called elites talking down to them or thinking they are crazy. There is a sense among many that they are almost non-citizens or who ought be. It's hardly surprising they rally around people who take them seriously.
The trick is figuring out how to include them without necessarily buying into some of the more fringe ideas they support.
I must admit that my conception of Huey Long is based almost entirely on All the King's Men, where the Huey figure (Willie Stark) is one of the peasants/hicks who has risen into the political system - versus all the other politicians who are elitists with no real connection to the voters' world.
So, leaving aside my bad analogy, my point is that Palin's strength is less that of a William Jennings Bryan; a member of the ruling class who happened to share the relgious beliefs of the rank and file voters. Her strength is that the peasantry consider her more like them (e.g. her kids go to public school) than the other politicians, who send their children to elite private schools and live in a hermetic world distinct from that of the masses they expect to vote for them.
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So, leaving aside my bad analogy, my point is that Palin's strength is less that of a William Jennings Bryan; a member of the ruling class who happened to share the relgious beliefs of the rank and file voters. Her strength is that the peasantry consider her more like them (e.g. her kids go to public school) than the other politicians, who send their children to elite private schools and live in a hermetic world distinct from that of the masses they expect to vote for them.
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