she is not one of us. This is a common strategy in political campaigns. But
in Palin’s case, that approach added credibility to Palin’s frame for herself;
rather than be embarrassed about the faults held up for public ridicule, she
embraced the associations made. Her linguistic choices seemed to
telegraph her dislike and distrust of what she characterized as the liberal
mindset and intellectualism.^17 The goal, it seemed, was to reach those who
identified with her and “the overall theme that Ms. Palin and Senator John
McCain have been trying to advance: that expertise is overrated,
homespun sincerity is better than sophistication, conviction is more
important than analysis” (Pinker 2008). Palin’s anti-intellectualism has
been compared to class warfare, both by her critics and those who
supported the Republican Party and its candidates in the 2008 campaign:
Palin is smart, politically skilled, courageous and likable. Her
convention and debate performances were impressive. But no
American politician plays the class-warfare card as constantly as
Palin. Nobody so relentlessly divides the world between the “normal
Joe Sixpack American” and the coastal elite
(Brooks 2008).It would be a mistake to generalize on the basis of observations about
Palin to conservatives more generally. The National Review, founded by
William F. Buckley, Jr., is generally seen as a cradle of conservative
intellectualism and a home “for erudite and well-mannered debate”
(Arango 2008). In this conservative setting, intellectualism and education
are highly valued; those conservative elites who trained in Buckley’s
model (such as David Frum and David Brooks, quoted here) did not seem
so focused on Palin’s intelligence or lack of intelligence in their public
commentary during the campaign. Far more interesting was Palin’s
willingness and seemingly instinctive ability to take on the party strategy
built on language ideology, confrontational rhetorical style and class
conflicts:
But over the past few decades, the Republican Party has driven away
people who live in cities, in highly educated regions and on the
coasts. This expulsion has had many causes. But the big one is this:
Republican political tacticians decided to mobilize their coalition