SARAH PALIN HAS NOW ANNOUNCED that she's said "Thanks, but no thanks" to the expensive wardrobe. She's going back to her down-home clothes, no matter what the McCain campaign tells her to do.
I don't know where to start.
Should I point out that her latest spin is about as believable as her twist on the bridge to nowhere?
Should I point out that this is another indication of the every man-and/or-woman-for-him/her-self state of the McCain campaign?
Or, should I ask why it took her so long, and what does that tell us about Sarah and John?
Why in the world did they think it was a good idea in the first place?
The answer lies in the class system within the current Republican party.
Republicans generally come in two quite different kinds. Of course there's some variations, and not a few exceptions, but the stereotypes—the extremes—are these:
- On one hand there's the middle and lower-middle class, socially conservative, religiously conservative, turn back the clock, mildly racist, homophobic, anti-abortion base, which accounts for most of the political power.
- On the other hand, there's the wealthy upper-class, neo-con, empire-building, laissez-faire, corporate welfare and tax-cut loving elite.
Mostly, the elite manage a kind of partnership with the base by supporting a handful of issues which cost little or nothing but get them lots of votes.
But there is one other thing that unifies the upper and lower classes of the party. They both have top-down worldviews. They both see the world through a lens that was forged during the period of kingdoms, not democracies.
The elite have a top-down worldview in the sense that kings do. They see the base as, well, the base—their worker bees, whom they have to keep happy, but who are, quite rightly, beneath them, and can be lied to, if necessary, and cheated if convenient.
The base have the kind of top-down worldview that the subjects of kings have. They see the elite as fundamentally more important than they are, as their protectors and rightful superiors, who have a right to more wealth and power.
This leads to all sorts of interesting lines of thought—such as why McCain can't seem to get it through his head that the average non-Republican voter doesn't really care about taxes on people who make over a quarter of a million.
But to stick to the topic of this post, it also explains the clothing issue.
Have you noticed how royalty dress?
Neither the elite, nor the base, saw anything odd about Palin spending a small fortune of party money on clothes. Both expected royalty to dress like royalty, no matter how good she was at the common touch.
And, had the entire electorate consisted merely of her base, it would have never been an issue.
Unfortunately, there's a growing number of Americans who are thinking from the bottom up. Many are not Republicans, and many vote.
It took some time for Palin, McCain, and the rest of their campaign to notice, that's all.
