As I have written about before, there is a part of the electorate that has just about had it with the Republican Party. I watched Gorge Will as he spoke about them on Fox News Sunday after Laura Ingraham talked about the part of the Republican base that is tired of working hard but have no results for putting R butts in Congressional / Senatorial seats – and how will they win without those 10-30% of the base that thinks this. Far be it for me to take on one of the most erudite thinkers on the Right, but on this with his attitude, he’s dead wrong. Worse, he’s dead wrong and is condescending about it. Throw in a bit of what I call the Establishment GOP’s belief that they are entitled to Republican votes, and you’re still way short of the mark of how bad Will sounded to these ears:
These are voters the Republicans want, the Republicans want all voters, and particularly these voters, but to say that he’s tapped into something;… {shaking head} … Henry Wallace tapped into something, with the far left of American Politics in the late 40’s; the John Birch society tapped into something, George Wallace tapped into something, and it was up to the grown-ups in the labor movement in the late 1940’s, and the grown-ups in the conservative movement in the 1960’s to read those elements the riot act, and say: come back in, but come back in on our terms because we are not going down the road you want to go”
We saw how well THAT worked out here in NH, didn’t we? Yes, I am QUITE sure that the NH GOPpers were extremely angry at the outcome – and at us. And probably me as well. Haven’t learned yet, have you, that you have brought us upon yourselves. This is what happens when you take people for granted. This is what happens when you assume you have their votes. This is what happens when you feel entitled to those votes. This is what happens when you feel you own those votes (as opposed to those that actually do). This is what happens when you treat others as if as they are children – and George Will did.
And this may be what happens, again, when the Entitled GOPpers demand something to which they are not entitled and do not own. And have the hubris to keep thinking it. Will believes that today’s political environment is about the same as it was in the 40s or 60s. Problem is that back then, America was much more monolithic; it is much more segmented in outlook and worldview. And unlike in years past, much more highly connected via the ‘Net. That 5, 10, 20, 30% that both Laura and George speak about are no longer 2 or 3 here, a few over there, and another handful somewhere else. Via the socialness of the ‘Net, scattered no longer means apart and with that decentralization of media on the Internet, there no longer is much of the shaming that hold taut (we can thank Progressives for all but removing THAT word from usefulness of any type).
Here’s the video – I just wish they had included a bit more ahead of it to properly set it up:
(H/T: Conservative Treehouse)