Republicans came to power riding a wave of backlash against deteriorating moral values blamed on the so-called liberal elite
author Thomas Frank said at the Baker Center Ballroom yesterday afternoon.
Since releasing his acclaimed book What's the Matter With Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America last year, Frank has lectured and appeared on television shows throughout the country.
Trained as a historian, Frank also is the author of Conquest of Cool and One Market Under God and was the editor of The Baffler a journal of cultural criticism.
While the gap between rich and poor in America continually widens, Republicans have exhibited an uncanny ability to portray their party as the advocate of the downtrodden and victimized, Frank said.
This is despite the fact that the Republican Party, traditionally anti-union and in favor of cutting taxes, has enhanced the wealth of a few while leaving much of its core out in the cold, he said.
It's like the French Revolution in reverse
in which the (peasants) pour down the street screaming 'more power to the aristocracy!' Frank said.
Republicans play to those who feel alienated by deteriorating traditional values and morals by painting themselves as rebels against a haughty, condescending core of latte-drinking liberals
he said.
Republicans argue this liberal elite controls and dictates American culture and government, he said.
Keeping feelings of alienation and anger alive among voters, while focusing on hard-hitting cultural issues such as gay marriage, is crucial to the success of the new breed of conservatives in power today, Frank said.
When leaders of the conservative movement pick cultural battles
they almost always choose battles where victory is impossible
Frank said. Backlash was born to lose; the goal is not to win
but to take offense.
Because of the political genius of people like Karl Rove, President Bush's campaign manager, backlash voters decide presidencies on inflammatory issues meant to divide, Frank said. These voters refuse to consider the notion that the roots of their problems can be traced to more tangible causes.
The Republican Party contains two types of constituents whose interests do not coincide: former President Richard Nixon's silent majority
who are value-voters, and the traditional business advocates, Frank said. Oftentimes, poor and middle-class Republicans do not seem to realize that a large portion of their party advocates the interests of big business -interests that are often detrimental to them.
(Republicans) are still a business party
Frank said. Everything else is added on for strategic advantage.
Frank added that despite divisive moral issues that can decide an election, legislators rarely accomplish their stated agendas. For example, legislators have been unable to reverse the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, which is arguably the most divisive issue in U.S. politics.
