Class Warfare Within, And Dumbing Down Of, The Republican Party

Alex Roarty at The Atlantic profiles the class divisions within the GOP and how a new breed of populism looks down upon education, experience and, it seems, intelligence.

These days, the GOP tone and agenda are set by a voting bloc of mostly white, blue-collar workers whose sensibilities skew more toward NASCAR than golf. In a general election, the party’s most reliable supporters are white voters without college degrees. And they increasingly control the contest for the White House nod: In 2008, according to a tabulation of exit-poll data acquired by the National Journal, blue-collar workers made up 51 percent of all GOP primary voters…

“Ten years ago a Republican primary was decided by who has the best resume,” said Joel McElhannon, an Atlanta-based GOP strategist. “Having broader experience was considered a big plus, but we’ve seen this shift over the last several years. There is this populist strain going through the Republican primary electorate, and now it’s less about experience and it’s more about being an outsider. It’s less about being qualified than who is more angry and more likely to ruffle feathers.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.