Populism + Intelligence = Success

Our Conservative Intellectuals have lost their way. They are succumbing to the Cocktail Party Syndrome of believing their opinions are the only correct ones because everyone around them agrees.

And nice large dose of populism is the correct antibiotic for the CPS infection.

Our Conservative Intellectuals are valuing style over substance when they attack our Conservative Populists like Rush, Ann Coulter, Joe-The-Plumber, Palin and Jindal.

Think about that for a moment. Our Conservative Intellectuals are valuing style over substance. You would think that the very nature of an intellectual is the appreciation of the deeper, the wiser, the more profound.

But no, over and over again, our Conservative Intellectuals are framing their arguments in terms as silly as linguistic skill over the actual message.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Substance is always what matters but substance doesn't always come in bright, shiny, articulate packages. Failure to understand that is to value the glitter above the gold.

Yes, Coulter, Rush, Palin, Jindal and Joe stumble, say the "wrong" thing, and are not always correct. But ask yourself this, are they popular because they cater to the masses or are they popular because they speak the Conservative truths that we all understand, in ways nearly everyone can appreciate?

Our Conservative Intellectuals have just as much access to media outlets to make their scintillating views known and yet everyone knows Coulter, Rush, Palin, Jindal and Joe. As much as I admire and value them, our Conservative Intellectuals are not nearly as well known. I only need to use one-word names with our Conservative Populists, but our Intellectuals need both (or more).

When the jock is preferred over the geek, the geek rationalizes that his assets are more "valuable" because they are more "intelligent". It rarely occurs to the geek that the jock's less articulate "leadership" is equally valuable to the community.

Both populism and intellectualism have value. They are the two workhorses that will pull the Conservative cart out of the muck. Our Conservative Elites need to get off their high horses and put themselves into the harness, into the fray, next to our Conservative Populist who are trying as hard as they can to pull us forward.

For while our Conservative Intellectuals examine and develop our conservative policies, our Conservative Populists frame the argument against principles everyone can understand.

This is a two-step process much like the manufacturer and the advertiser. The Conservative product is made by our intellectuals and advertised by our populists. The process of production is intelligent, rational, and mechanical, the process of marketing is intelligent empathy that motivates one towards a goal (the buy in).

Our Conservative Intellectuals are valuable because they examine our Conservative policies. Our Conservative Populists are valuable because they promote our conservative principles.

I will leave you with this to think about, in The Watchmen, it is the Adrian Veidt (smartest man in the world) that kills millions of humans while Rorschach (the madman who fights evil) who struggles to stop him. Rorschach may be deeply flawed but he always knows what is right and never accepts anything less. This is a comic book story that resonates because it is a mirror of life, how many lives have been lost in the 20th century because a "smart man" felt he knew better?

Conservatives do not need a voice. We need a chorus. We need the Intellectuals to write the melody and the Populists to sing the lyrics. Both vital. Both in balance. And together, both will work.