"populist conservatives" is an oxymoron. The two terms have nothing in common.
A populist is a person who sets up a perceived dichotomy between "the people" and the (evil) aristocracy, whereas a conservative would favor the rule of law above mob-rule. To suggest that a populist can also be a conservative or vice-versa is to muddle the terms and miss the meaning of each.
Conservatives are not against healthcare reform. They are against liberal, government-driven heathcare reform.
historically, farmers began the populist party in the late 1800's to battle the elitist fat cats who were creating huge monopolies. i believe the party started in kansas. william jennings bryan, a fundamentalist, was a leader of the populist party, and one of the reasons he supported it, was for religious reasons. in other words, populists were mid-western religious people who created a dichotomy between the common man and the wealthy elite.
now one of the great successes of the right has been to take this very same demographic and this very same "common man" virtue and set up a new dichotomy replacing the wealthy capitalist with the "liberal elites" in government and academia. this is what conservative populism is. sarah palin is the prime example of a conservative populist politician. she uses simple folksy vernacular, she's just like you and me-- the common (wo)man, she's got mid-western, heartland values, she's religious, she's not like those elitists in government etc. conservative populists are basically mid-western, christian conservatives. it's the same demographic as the populists of old except with a different elite.
i singled them out in this post mainly because the whole pro family, baby, children movement is part of conservative populism. once again, think of the accolades palin got for having her downes baby.
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I can't help myself on this one...
"populist conservatives" is an oxymoron. The two terms have nothing in common.
A populist is a person who sets up a perceived dichotomy between "the people" and the (evil) aristocracy, whereas a conservative would favor the rule of law above mob-rule. To suggest that a populist can also be a conservative or vice-versa is to muddle the terms and miss the meaning of each.
Conservatives are not against healthcare reform. They are against liberal, government-driven heathcare reform.
historically, farmers began the populist party in the late 1800's to battle the elitist fat cats who were creating huge monopolies. i believe the party started in kansas. william jennings bryan, a fundamentalist, was a leader of the populist party, and one of the reasons he supported it, was for religious reasons. in other words, populists were mid-western religious people who created a dichotomy between the common man and the wealthy elite.
now one of the great successes of the right has been to take this very same demographic and this very same "common man" virtue and set up a new dichotomy replacing the wealthy capitalist with the "liberal elites" in government and academia. this is what conservative populism is. sarah palin is the prime example of a conservative populist politician. she uses simple folksy vernacular, she's just like you and me-- the common (wo)man, she's got mid-western, heartland values, she's religious, she's not like those elitists in government etc. conservative populists are basically mid-western, christian conservatives. it's the same demographic as the populists of old except with a different elite.
i singled them out in this post mainly because the whole pro family, baby, children movement is part of conservative populism. once again, think of the accolades palin got for having her downes baby.
oh, and how would conservatives see to it that health insurers couldn't deny people for pre-existing conditions.
We wouldn't.
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