There are many reasons I am happy Barack Obama was elected president. I agree with most of his policies. I honestly think he will move us closer to universal healthcare. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is about to be another piece of sad history. The Supreme Court won’t get any new Alitos anytime soon. And of course, we finally have our first African-American president. But beyond policy or even race, Obama was elected despite being an unapologetic liberal and undiluted intellectual.
President Clinton was a Rhodes scholar, but he hid his intellect behind occasionally colloquial speech and aphorisms about sows in Arkansas. W made a political asset out of being “folksy” that some found repugnant while others admired. Two wars, one natural disaster, and a financial collapse later the populace is reminded that smarts are not a bad thing in a leader.
McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate was a cynical appeal to the party’s base. She was not his first choice but like so many people in his party he was held captive by religious extremists led by James Dobson and Co. Because dogma was more important than thinking in both of W’s electoral victories many thought Palin would energize the core of the party McCain once called “agents of intolerance”. Instead she caused many lifelong Republicans to throw up their hands in disgust at just how base the base really is.
Peggy Noonan, Reagan’s speechwriter and conservative columnist for the Wall Street Journal, called Palin’s selection the “vulgarization of American politics.” Chris Buckley, son of William F. Buckley (the father of modern conservatism and founder of National Review), broke ranks and publicly supported Obama after the announcement of Palin. It cost him his job at the publication his father founded. Palin was also a contributing factor in Powell’s decision to come out in support of Obama. One by one, the intellectual conservatives and long-since forgotten moderates of the Republican Party openly endorsed Obama.
This was not simply because of Palin. Barack is a remarkable un-politician that inspires people of all political persuasions. He is compelling alone. But the selection of Palin set of a Republican civil war that had been building for some time. It sent the message to moderate, secular, economic, intellectual, classically conservative Republicans that they really have no place in their party. Even the once independent minded McCain could not resist the demands of the American Ayatollahs and had to discard his short list entirely for someone who he once met for 15 minutes.
Somehow along the way being Republican became synonymous with anti-intellectualism. Bush’s refusal to listen to contrary advice coupled with reliance on a “heavenly father” for counsel on Iraq was part of this; so was his “war against Science.” Only in the Republican primary did you find candidates who boasted their “disbelief” in evolution and global warming. While misguided support for the Iraq war was bipartisan, confusing the search for imaginary weapons with a new crusade was exclusive to one party. Many Republicans and conservatives for a long time have been uncomfortable with the fact that their party I.D. indicated stupidity.
Queue Sarah Palin, who led crowds in booing newspapers, who divided us into real and “elite” America, and who defined elite by region and education level. She could not name a Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed or come up with the names of something she read. The Youtube clips of her in beauty pageants are funny but scary when you consider that most leaders were in school for a long time in their twenties while she was sashaying in swimsuit and stilettos. Like some sort of perverted version of Blues Brothers that lacks all hope of irony or self-awareness she sincerely believed her candidacy was a mission from god. Much was made of her RNC-funded shopping sprees but these were indicative of more than a contradiction of her regular gal image. I am reluctant to criticize any politician’s children but the image of Palin’s youngest daughter on stage at rallies in a too-large kid’s fur coat, hat, and muff summarized the power-for-power’s-sake and crass Beverly Hillbilly nature of Palin’s candidacy.
Many old-school Republicans harbored sympathy if not quiet support for Barack Obama. But the unfolding horror of the idiocy pride movement personified in Palin pushed them over the edge as they marched out of the closet and across party lines. The revolt has only intensified after the election loss and now many Republicans openly call for an end to the Rovian strategy of whipping up the “base” with religious hysteria and fear. After a devastating loss they are reassessing what it means to be a Republican and openly questioning the de facto leadership of Dr. Dobson.
It may have come too late. There is not a single representative in the House from the Northeast, i.e. “fake America”. The New York Times had a map of where parties made gains; not necessarily won, but made gains. The only place the Republicans maintained or gained any ground was a crescent of Appalachia and the Deep South. These are the only places that Sarah thought qualified as American. The Twin Towers and Pentagon sat in the unreal American areas of Manhattan’s financial district and Northern Virginia when “fake” America was attacked. Military brass and Wall Street business people are the types of Republicans who do not base their politics on the need to believe men rode dinosaurs.
It will be interesting to see how the Republican Party regroups after devastating losses. Some say Palin represents a now out of power subset of religious conservatives and some say she is the early lead in campaign 2012. The change Obama brings may only be a momentary swing of the pendulum to the left so enjoy it while it lasts. Michelle Obama famously touted a newfound pride in America via the hope of her husband’s candidacy. The comments garnered criticism and the usual accusations of patriotism lacking. But I echo her sentiments. My faith in America has been restored not just because the country that began with slavery finally elected a black man as its leader after 232 years, but because it is now ok to lead and be smart. Viva la revolution intelligista.
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