GOP's Heartland Appeal Just Plain Heartless

Sarah Palin can’t say enough about the virtues of small-town Americans, the good, honest folk “who do some of the hardest work,” skip college and join the military. But they have to work so hard and skip college because they’re not doing very well, Thomas Frank writes in the Wall Street Journal—and they’re not doing well because they keep electing Sarah Palins.

Midwestern voters keep choosing Republicans who sing odes to small-town America while propping up its mortal foes. John McCain gets a 0% voting rating from the Kansas Farmers Union, but he seems convinced that won’t matter, Frank concludes: “Just choose a running mate who knows how to skin a moose and all will be forgiven.” (More agriculture stories.)