by Smitty

Taking in the afternoon at CPAC, I thought Sarah was rousing, and spot-on in her criticism:

While a great example of whipping up the crowd to a froth, the speech sounded a bit Ann Coulter-ish, NTTAWWT. In other words, and excellent outing from a media personality, and not from someone laying the foundation for serious campaigning in the near future.

Many would be daunted by the idea of following Sarah. Many are not Phyllis Schlafly.

Concurrent with the speeches above, Mrs. Other Smitty came by CPAC, and brought the World’s Youngest Blogger.

As someone from Old Europe, Mrs. Other Smitty looks at CPAC through some different eyes. She saw a few vehicles like the ‘Arguably Most Raaaaacist Vehicle in the Country‘ (seen there in stock footage from #CPAC2012) over at National Harbor and found their ‘unrefined’ nature (and, by extension, the whole CPAC crowd) just a little off-putting.

I acknowledged that, the ‘raw, colonial feel’ of e.g. Ted Nugent. . .

My righteous wrecking balls topple liberal denial geeks like badly constructed pillars of lies

— Ted Nugent (@TedNugent) February 22, 2013

. . .can be neither denied nor separated from the American experience, having been kicked out of Old Europe those centuries back. That unrefined nature of a Nugent (or even Sarah Palin) is closely associated with authenticity, whereas ‘excessive polish’ is viewed with some skepticism, and the stout patriotism of a Schlafly is increasingly unknown outside the movement.

But that’s part of the nature of representative democracy. That ‘refinement’ has some correlation to age, income, and education. Mrs. Other Smitty is more drawn to the straightforward intellectual appeal of a Schlafly than the folksy tones of a Palin.

For my part, I like the whole, broad spectrum of appeal from high- to low-brow. Leadership cannot be talking over, or down to people. Rather, leadership must strive to pick up the audience and elevate it. That kind of virtuous agitation grows people, helping them to rise to whatever optimal level Destiny has ordained for them.

Then again, I’ve always been just riff-raff sneaking in to hang out with the Cool Kids, so what do I know?