Thursday, October 30, 2008
Politics The Passion of Joe the Plumber and Face Carving: What It All Means
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Is Ashley Todd the final, bewildered chapter of the conservative narrative?
The conservative narrative has long propped itself up on the middle class. Under the guise of shrinking government, tax cuts and deregulation, the story line goes that the Republicans seek to give America back to the people--even though that's exactly what didn't happen under W.
Yet somehow, Middle America has bought this shaky thesis hook, line and sinker. At least that's what the Republicans are banking on by invoking the likes of Joe the Plumber and trotting Palin out before the electorate--a little red to dilute the blue blood in McCain's veins.
Then things took a strange turn: Young Republican volunteer Ashley Todd beat herself up and carved that infamous backwards "B" onto her cheek. A large and virulently pro-Obama black man, she said, was responsible for this outrage. And before her, Joe the Plumber's license was checked on by the wicked MSM after he became the rallying cry in stump speeches. In an election chock-full of proxies for unarticulated conservative outrage, I wasn't quite sure where Todd fit in.
A columnist for the Wall Street Journal meditates on this: The Republican story is one of beef. And who's got a beef with whom?
Well, it's the MSM and the thousand slights and indignities it hurls at Middle America from haughty, snarky heights. Palin herself has claimed crucifixion at the hands of the media elite because she's not a Washington insider. So the WSJ columnist wonders whether the backwards "B" and the self-inflicted black eye are the final, bewildered chapter of the conservative narrative.
Comments (3)
Showing 1-3 of 3
