David Brooks is living in a fantasy land.
[Meg] Whitman is representative of an emerging Republican type — what you might call the austerity caucus. Flamboyant performers like Sarah Palin get all the attention, but the governing soul of the party is to be found in statehouses where a loose confederation of über-wonks have become militant budget balancers. Just as welfare reformers of the 1990s presaged compassionate conservatism, so the austerity brigades presage the national party’s next chapter.
Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana who I think is most likely to win the G.O.P. presidential nomination in 2012, is the spiritual leader. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is the rising star. Jeb Bush is the eminence. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rob Portman, a Senate candidate in Ohio, also fit the mold…
Whitman has the personality type that you’re seeing more and more of these days. Not big picture, like Reagan. Not an idea volcano, like Gingrich. Not a straightforward man of faith, like George W. Bush. The quintessential New Republican is detail-oriented, managerial, tough-minded, effective but a little dry. If Whitman wins her race, she’ll fit right in.
First of all, Whitman will fit right in, but only because she shares an aversion to the truth, much like Mark Kirk of Illinois, Carl Paladino of New York, and Christine O’Donnell of Delaware. Secondly, Chris Christie is an über-wonk? Seriously?
Thirdly, what part of Bob Bennett, Charlie Crist, Mike Castle, or Lisa Murkowski did Brooks not understand? He hasn’t noticed that the modern Republican base has a sign that says “über-wonks need not apply.” All four of those politicians got sent their walking papers specifically because they are serious legislators (or, in Crist’s case, a serious executive). So, Brooks looks out at the vast landscape of American politics and sees the Republican base rallying around a nerdy little bean-counter from Indiana? A guy who wants to take social issues off the table. What kind of crack are they mixing with the Sanka at the New York Times’ building?
This is a party that thinks Paul Ryan is an intellectual. In fact, that’s precisely why they ignored everything he has to say about the budget deficit when they made up their stupid Pledge for America and had it transparently increase our debt by trillions of dollars.
The Republican base has the locomotive under control. Brooks still has time to jump off the train before it derails, but it’s a pretty pathetic sight to see him mingling with the drunks in the diner car, assuring them a sane human being is still at the controls.
