From Chronicles
By Clyde N. Wilson
Our lamented friend Sam Francis scored big when he labeled the
Democrats as “the evil party” and the Republicans as “the stupid party.”
These telling characterizations have appealed to many later observers,
as have other of Sam’s apt phrases, like “anarchotyranny.” Sam was
always in earnest but his comments were often laced with humour. He knew
what H.L. Mencken or Will Rogers or perhaps both said: Observing
American politics is a hoot if you just keep a sane perspective and
remember that their main use is entertainment.
There can be little dispute about “the evil party.” It might be said,
however, that there is a slight Democratic credit here. Democrats
sometimes actually believe the depraved stuff they spout and even try to
make a rational-sounding argument. They pursue a real agenda and
represent real interests. Not so the Republicans.
Are the Republican leaders really as stupid as they seem? Certainly
the ideal Republican candidate for office is the same as any hostess
wants for the spare man at her dinner party: presentable, not too old,
no real work to do, with inherited money and a mediocre I.Q. Now and
then, when fortunes are low, the Republicans will play the U.S. Grant
card and go for a military hero, but lately that does not work as well
as it used to.
The Republicans’ apparent stupidity rests on the fact that they
invariably and with utter predictability betray their rank and file of
Middle Americans and thereby presumably damage themselves. But is this
really so stupid when the leaders can calculate with near certainty that
the poor slobs will come back again no matter what is done to them? And
when they know that if they show any real allegiance to their voters or
try to do anything substantive for them, they will be declared by the
media to be no longer respectable and thus be constantly on the
defensive and guilty of un-American negativity?
A lot becomes clear when we realize that the Republican party is not a
political party. Few of its leaders have any idea what a political
principle is or what political debate is supposed to be. The few who do
have an idea avoid such things like the plague. The Republican party is a
marketing strategy. It is a coalition of mostly mediocre people running
a campaign for power and perks. Everything these people say is a
calculated advertisement without any sincerity or substance. Mentioning
your competitor’s bad points is unattractively negative, no matter what
terrible things he is accusing you of. Since you have no ideas or
principles but only a lust for office, the easiest thing is to go along
with the other fellow’s agenda and let him win most of the time. And
whatever you may have told the slobs to get their votes is yesterday’s
tired ad campaign that needs to be refreshed.
Clyde N. Wilson is a contributing editor to Chronicles. A retired professor of history at the University of South Carolina, he is the author of numerous books, including Carolina Cavalier: The Life and Mind of James Johnston Pettigrew and Defending Dixie: Essays in Southern History and Culture. He is the editor of The Papers of John C. Calhoun. 
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