I don’t want to get too far removed from the real point of this blog – the progressive movement and what it stands for – but those darn conservatives just keep giving me more to talk about.
It’s been fascinating for me to watch the conservative movement – especially the establishment conservative branch – pitch one tizzy after another over the rotating leaders in its primary races. This is particularly true since this movement has been extraordinarily disciplined for years. All of these temper tantrums have helped me to understand the conservative movement better, which in the long run, is time well spent.
Today’s installment: Boy, conservatives really don’t like John McCain. They distrust him on multiple issues, but now that he’s the front runner for their movement, many conservatives – especially mainstream conservative media outlets – are trying to find ways to get behind him. See here and here and here and here and here and here.
I take away a couple of things from all of this.
One, religion is not mentioned. The conservative movement has used the energy of the religious right to win elections for a couple of decades. But boy-oh-boy, they went all “medieval” on Mike Huckabee when he started to do well. Now, with McCain, they seem prepared to just ignore the whole religious thing altogether. I wonder how that will play out for them, considering he was Mr. “Agents of intolerance” at one time.
Two, it’s all about big money and big business – cut their taxes, support unbridled “free” trade, cut government benefits for average folks. It’s always important to remember that this is what the conservative movement has been mainly about. It’s a bit simplistic, I know, but it strikes me that political coverage of the conservative movement rarely focuses on this essential point. Religious issues have helped to obscure this central fact.
By the way, a little bonus reading, here’s one conservative trying to outline the conservative movement. He emphasizes the idea that many social conservatives want guarantees about what kinds of Supreme Court nominees will be put forward. Money conservatives are just as focused on this, too.
Also, the conservative movement’s current leader, the “Decider”, really hasn’t been treated much better lately. Just look here and here and here. That’s okay. He deserves it.
Bill Poorman 