Page 10a — THE CONWAY DAILY SUN, Saturday, January 23, 2016

–––––––––––––––––––––– LETTERS –––––––––––––––––––––– Ross Douthat Our Citizens United resolution got buried To the editor: ing the bill to the governor. Sixty-nine New Hamp- Then things got strange. My Sarah Palin romance shire towns, led by Conway The electronic voting system in 2013, passed resolu- suddenly failed; each repre- tions calling on the state sentative had to cast an indi- As a political journalist, you never forget the donor class. They’re in the same kind of legislature to support a vidual voice vote. the fi rst time you stop just covering a politi- blue-collar, Jacksonian, “who’s looking out constitutional amendment Reconsideration passed, cian and start identifying with her. The fi rst for you?” populism that has carried Trump to overturn the Supreme and the second vote to pass time you wed your high-minded vision of to the top of the Republican polls. And it’s a Court’s disastrous Citizens SB 136 was defeated when what politics should be to a real candidate’s populism that the GOP is discovering has a United decision, which trig- a dozen representatives perishable breath. lot more appeal to many of its voters than the gered the fl ood of money now switched their votes. My fi rst time arrived in 2008. It lasted only litmus tests of the offi cial right. engulfi ng our elections. Finally, a vote to bury the a short while. Her name was Sarah Palin. Which means that in a certain way, Trump More than two-thirds of bill for this year passed, and Let me explain. That spring, in between and Palin together on a stage is the closest Granite State residents the will of the people was the Republican primary and the fall cam- American politics has come to offering the agreed with the need for an thwarted. paign, my friend Reihan Salam and I had populist grand new party that Salam and I amendment. On April 9, 2013, Conway published a book called, “Grand New Party: called for two presidential campaigns ago. Last year, the state voters approved a resolu- How Republicans Can Win the Working Except that it isn’t what we called for, Senate unanimously passed tion instructing our state Class and Save the American Dream.” because we wanted a populism with sub- SB 136, a bill that explic- representatives to call for As the title suggests, we were calling for stance — one that actually offered policy itly recognized the need for and support a constitutional the GOP to change, but not to moderate in solutions to stagnant wages and rising such an amendment and amendment to restrain the the way that a lot of centrist pundits favored, health-care costs, one that could help Repub- established a committee to infl uence of big money on returning to a Rockefeller-Republican model licans reach out to upwardly mobile blacks study the proposals already politics. of fi scally prudent social liberalism. Rather, and Hispanics as well as whites, and so on pending in Congress and SB 136 met the require- we thought the party’s opportunity (and the down an optimistic wish list. recommend further action ments of the Conway resolu- country’s) lay in a kind of socially conserva- Whereas Trump-era populism, while it by the state legislature and tion. Rep. Tom Buco voted for tive populism, which would link the family- plays very effectively on economic anxiety, New Hampshire’s congres- SB 136; Reps. Frank McCar- values language of the religious right to an mostly offers braggadocio rather than solu- sional delegation. thy and Karen Umberger economic agenda more favorable to the work- tions, and white identity politics rather than On Jan. 7, the state House voted against it. ing class than what the Republicans usually any kind of one-nation conservatism. of Representatives passed There was a time in Amer- had offered. I would like to tell you that this is all the SB 136 by four votes. Sup- ica when legislators were Unfortunately, this message conspicuously fault of the Republican leadership — that porters of the bill moved for duty-bound to follow explicit lacked a tribune in 2008. Mike Huckabee had they been more receptive to populist reconsideration, expecting voter instructions or resign. fl irted with populism in the primary but ideas in 2008 or 2012, they wouldn’t be facing that the motion would fail, Joe Bagshaw never fl eshed out an agenda, and the even- a Trumpian revolt today. sealing the deal and send- Center Conway tual nominee, John McCain, was an “honor That’s roughly the argument David Frum and country” candidate who didn’t care much makes in this month’s Atlantic, in a sweep- about economic policy. ing essay on the roots of Trumpism. And But in Alaska, there was a young, rising- he makes a strong case. A large part of the –––––––––––––––– LETTERS POLICY –––––––––––––––– star governor. She was pro-life, evangelical, a Republican donor class would rather lose working mom. And her record way up north with “you didn’t build that!” than compro- We welcome your ideas and opinions on all topics was reformist in a distinctly nonideological mise on upper-bracket tax cuts. It would and consider every signed letter for publication. Limit way: She was best known for fi ghting a cor- rather try to win Hispanics with immigra- letters to 300 words and include your address. Please rupt nexus of politicians and the oil-and-gas tion reform a hundred times over than try to provide a phone number for verifi cation purposes. industry, tackling crony capitalism on behalf win them once on pocketbook issues. It pre- Longer letters will only be published as space allows of ordinary Alaskans. And then, shockingly, fers to campaign as though it’s always 1980, and may be edited. Anonymous letters, letters with- McCain picked her as his running mate. and has little to say to people who have lost out out full names and generic letters will not be pub- At which point the chattering classes went from globalization and socioeconomic change. lished. We do not print thank you letters as letters to temporarily insane. Or maybe I went insane, A critique that stops with GOP elites, the editor; please contact the advertising department who can say? But either way it seemed like though, might let the voting public off the at 356-3456 if you wish to publish a card of thanks. everything I hated, a mix of sneering social hook. Because it’s also possible that Trump- Please send your letters to: THE CONWAY DAILY liberalism, fecundophobia, anti-evangelical ism, in all its boastful, lord-of-misrule mer- SUN, P.O. Box 1940, North Conway, NH 03860. You paranoia and class contempt, was being etriciousness, is what many struggling may FAX your letters to 356-8360, Attention: Editor, hurled at a candidate who seemed to fi t Americans actually want. or write us online at [email protected]. exactly with the “Grand New Party” mold. That is, at a certain point, disillusionment So I defended her. I assailed her critics. with the system becomes so strong that no And then — well, you know what happened then. wonkish policy proposal is likely to resonate Palin gave interviews — terrible, terrible anymore. So you can talk all you want (as interviews. She was in over her head. Her Marco Rubio’s water-treading campaign has own paranoia took center stage. She became tried to do) about improving vocational edu- her critics’ caricature, embracing a mix of cation or increasing the child-tax credit, and Mt. Washington Valley’s DAILY Newspaper willful ignorance and proud ressentiment. people will tune you out: They want some- What was distinctive about her Alaskan one who will arm-wrestle the Chinese, make Mark Guerringue Publisher career was subsumed into a much more con- Mexico pay for the wall, smite our enemies Margaret McKenzie Managing Editor Joyce Brothers General Manager ventional sort of movement conservatism, and generally stand in solidarity with their Frank Haddy Pressroom Manager Darcy Farrar Graphics Manager which she picked up from the professional resentments, regardless of the policy results. Robert Struble Jr. IT Manager ideologues who rallied to her during her trial Since this is a recipe for American-style Lloyd Jones Sports/Education Editor Jamie Gemmiti Photography Editor by fi re. And eventually the movement tired Putinism, it’s not exactly a good sign for the Terry Leavitt Op-Ed/Community Editor Alec Kerr Arts Editor of her, the culture tired of her, and her act republic that it seems to be resonating. But Tom Eastman, Daymond Steer, Erik Eisele Reporters ceased to be interesting even as reality TV. those of us who want a better, saner and more Heather Baillargeon, Frank DiFruscio, Betsy Hopler Sales Representatives Jamie Brothers, Hannah McVitty, Louise Head Classifi eds But now that she has re-emerged to decent populism than what Donald Trump is Priscilla Ellis, Patty Tilton Graphic Artists endorse Donald Trump, uniting her brand selling need to reckon with the implications Larry Perry Press Operator with his “Make America Great Again” nation- of his indubitable appeal. alism, it’s worth revisiting the original Palin, Maybe — hopefully — there’s a bridge from “Seeking the truth and printing it” the outsider who took on a corrupt Alaskan Trumpism to a more responsible alternative, establishment. as there was between Huey Long and FDR or THE CONWAY DAILY SUN is published Tuesday through Saturday by Country News Club, Inc. A lot of conservatives, especially in Ted from George Wallace to Richard Nixon. Dave Danforth, Mark Guerringue, Adam Hirshan Founders Cruz’s orbit, have acted shocked or disap- But it’s also possible that my fellow egg- Offi ces and Printing Plant: 64 Seavey St., North Conway, NH pointed that Palin would endorse a fi gure heads and I are grasping at a dream that’s Box 1940, North Conway, NH 03860 (603) 356-2999 like Trump, who has no plausible claim to be already slipped behind us — lost back in the Newsroom Fax: 356-8360, Advertising Fax 356-8774 a principled conservative. But given Palin’s land of might-have-beens, where the dark Website: http://www.conwaydailysun.com Alaskan past, the endorsement makes per- fi elds of Wasilla roll on under the night. E-mail: [email protected] fect sense. Her real roots are not in Reagan- Ross Douthat writes for The New York CIRCULATION: 17,100 distributed Tuesday through Saturday ism or libertarianism or the orthodoxies of Times. 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