Why does it seem there is a war on intellectualism in this country? The ability to set emotion aside and reason through a problem is something everyone strives to achieve. It is a quality we look for in a leader. So why does the Republican party go to such extremes to label anyone with a mind of their own an "elitist"? i.e. What's wrong with being smart?
"Smart" is not unique to one party. I would characterize both McCain and Obama and their top aides as intellectuals (hey, they didn't get this far by being dumb). So what's going on? It all has to do with pandering to the GOP base. The GOP's hard-line stance on the issues of gun rights, taxes, and abortion (to name a few) endears the party to single issue, emotionally driven voters, the antithesis of intellectuals. So to continue to garner support from this group, the GOP paints the opposing candidate as an "elitist." Bush's win in 2000 and 2004 showed this strategy was a great way to win an election (just ask Karl Rove). So, what's new for 2008 from the GOP? Not much. Just a healthy dose of "elitist" labeling and non-issue talk. And to drive the point home and reaffirm the GOP's commitment to its hard-line base, they sacrifice the VP position to Sarah Palin.
Though simplistic, Bill F.'s quote below does a good job putting into words some of the frustration with intellectualism and the single issue voter.
"I guess it makes sense. An uneducated bible-thumping mechanic in Kansas is no more impressed by intellectualism than a biologist would be by Nascar racing. These red-state radicals just want to hear about kicking some Russian butt and putting a stop to abortion. No matter how much we're baffled by this, the fact is, the US is very much two countries now."
1 comment:
There is nothing wrong with being smart, you just have to be smart enough to be able to appeal to all Americans. Grid lock is present in Washington because each party does not want to work with the other half of the country. When someone is SMART enough to appeal to the entire country then that is truly SMART and our government will work as intended for all Americans.
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