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24 Nov 2009 08:11 pm
Wanted: Republican Egghead
Douthat counters Matt Yglesias and Isaac Chotiner:
[T]he example of [Newt] Gingrich — the way that he’s sought after as a wise man
by Republicans, and the way that both the right-wing media and the
mainstream press tend to give him more credit as a thinker than he
deserves — suggests that precisely because the G.O.P.
currently has a reputation for being anti-intellectual, there’s a huge
upside for a Republican politician in being identified as that rarest
of species — a “conservative with domestic policy ideas.” (For a
small-bore example of how this works, look at Paul Ryan, who’s made a
substantial name for himself by being one of the few House Republicans
willing to get into the weeds
on health care reform.) Of course identity politics and symbolic
appeals will always matter more than substance, and political careers
will never be made on wonkery alone. But even — or especially — in
today’s Republican Party, being known as a thoughtful politician seems
much more likely to help you than to hurt you.
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