Spawn of McClung
Anyone concerned over the future of the Republican Party (and as much as I hate to admit it, we need to be because it remains the only viable way of electing any conservatives) should get a copy of the Nov. 15 City Pages cover. That drunken reveler is the type of person who has been recruited to form the ranks of Young Republicans today.
Dude, Republicans have just suffered significant losses in Congress and in both branches of the MN legislature, pretty much ensuring that no conservative policies will be advanced for at least the next two years. And if the election would have been held just before the Hatch-Dutcher campaign self-destructed, the DFL would have won the governorship in MN in addition to all the other statewide contests they won. As it was, the incumbent Republican won only by a narrow plurality in a contest against two other liberals. Wiping the sweat from one's forehead or commiserating with others about how fortunate they were to still have some impact in MN government would make sense, but mugging for the camera and gloating with a full drink in hand? A little humility is in order, dude.
Pawlenty's base of support came from three distinct groups: social conservatives with low expectations content to merely elect someone who was one of them, established corporate figures scared that a Hatch administration would bring negative attention to their business at some point, and drunken frat-boy bandwagon hoppers who look like the guy on the City Pages cover. The first two groups were naturally drawn to Pawlenty, but the governor and his sidekick McClung had to work hard to put out an image that would attract the drunken frat-boy group.
Frat-boy bandwagon hoppers are obviously followers, not leaders, but they will only follow someone who's seen as a winner and who has a cool image. They are obnoxious and not prone to ever engaging in deep thought, and tend to repel anyone different from them. They make up the bulk of the entry-level marketing associates in most mid-to-large-sized corporations. Pawlenty spoke against things it was safe for them to personally be against--tax increases, illiegal immigrants, and violent criminals. At the same time, he reassured them he was not against more spending, he just wanted to focus it on a few priorities (schools, transportation, and big-city entertainment). Meanwhile, he incorporated enough pop-culture lingo to build his "hipster" credibility.
Politics for frat-boy bandwagon hoppers is like fantasy sports. They want to draft someone who can win and deliver goodies: subsidies targeted to their interests. They even gave their favorite candidate for governor a moniker, "T-Paw", to make him sound cooler and enhance his marketability.
So what are the implications of this phenomenon on the future of the Republicanism and/or conservatism in Minnesota? When Hatch fades from the spotlight, the always-tenuous connection that big corporate figures have to Republicans will diminish. Social conservatives don't update their tactics enough to ever build much momentum and get on the offensive. Which means the party's future prospects are now linked to the frat boys. There are no bold principles that guide their politics, they don't want fewer services from government, they don't have much in common with social conservatives, and they don't appeal to intelligent men or women with decent self-esteem.
And they don't have enough basic common sense to know that election night this year was not a time for raucously celebrating.
Dude, Republicans have just suffered significant losses in Congress and in both branches of the MN legislature, pretty much ensuring that no conservative policies will be advanced for at least the next two years. And if the election would have been held just before the Hatch-Dutcher campaign self-destructed, the DFL would have won the governorship in MN in addition to all the other statewide contests they won. As it was, the incumbent Republican won only by a narrow plurality in a contest against two other liberals. Wiping the sweat from one's forehead or commiserating with others about how fortunate they were to still have some impact in MN government would make sense, but mugging for the camera and gloating with a full drink in hand? A little humility is in order, dude.
Pawlenty's base of support came from three distinct groups: social conservatives with low expectations content to merely elect someone who was one of them, established corporate figures scared that a Hatch administration would bring negative attention to their business at some point, and drunken frat-boy bandwagon hoppers who look like the guy on the City Pages cover. The first two groups were naturally drawn to Pawlenty, but the governor and his sidekick McClung had to work hard to put out an image that would attract the drunken frat-boy group.
Frat-boy bandwagon hoppers are obviously followers, not leaders, but they will only follow someone who's seen as a winner and who has a cool image. They are obnoxious and not prone to ever engaging in deep thought, and tend to repel anyone different from them. They make up the bulk of the entry-level marketing associates in most mid-to-large-sized corporations. Pawlenty spoke against things it was safe for them to personally be against--tax increases, illiegal immigrants, and violent criminals. At the same time, he reassured them he was not against more spending, he just wanted to focus it on a few priorities (schools, transportation, and big-city entertainment). Meanwhile, he incorporated enough pop-culture lingo to build his "hipster" credibility.
Politics for frat-boy bandwagon hoppers is like fantasy sports. They want to draft someone who can win and deliver goodies: subsidies targeted to their interests. They even gave their favorite candidate for governor a moniker, "T-Paw", to make him sound cooler and enhance his marketability.
So what are the implications of this phenomenon on the future of the Republicanism and/or conservatism in Minnesota? When Hatch fades from the spotlight, the always-tenuous connection that big corporate figures have to Republicans will diminish. Social conservatives don't update their tactics enough to ever build much momentum and get on the offensive. Which means the party's future prospects are now linked to the frat boys. There are no bold principles that guide their politics, they don't want fewer services from government, they don't have much in common with social conservatives, and they don't appeal to intelligent men or women with decent self-esteem.
And they don't have enough basic common sense to know that election night this year was not a time for raucously celebrating.
posted by Courier A | 11/19/2006 11:58:00 AM
Reminds me of that old classic Election/Induction Caucus dichotomy . . .
I am still too shocked by thw whole Democratic sweep in Minnesota to be complaining about Pawlenty. If Pawlenty went out in front of the dems to say he supported health care for kids, when we all know the dems are sharpening their knives to propose a state wide mommy health care program for all along with a giant tax increase, maybe Pawlenty will look like a genius for setting the bar before the democrats could do it.
If Pawlenty can get out of the next 4 years without any new state government programs, we should hail him as the greatest Minnesota governor of all time.
What is really going on? I mean did a bunch of conservative democrats just retake the Minnesota legislature as all the pundits are saying about Congress or did a bunch of communists win an election from an stupid electorate that was mad at Bush for the Iraq war and was not paying attention. Take the new Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, he does not even deserve to hold a park commissioners job, and now he is our State Elections Officer.
God help us.
" . . . Pawlenty will look like a genius . . ."
Oh, barf. By this logic, if some creep attempts to rape me, I should offer him a [street term for a sex act] instead. No, that's not quite right. For a precise analogy, I should go around prophylactically offering [street term for sex acts] to avoid being raped. I'll look like a genius. Or something.
Looking at the cover I was amazed at the fact that this was "City Pages" and not "The Onion" Drunk of the Week... I wonder how many lit drops they had to say they did to be invited to the Governor's Kegger?
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