Economic Fury Is the New Culture War

Deficits were the rallying cry for yesterday's winners
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 4, 2009 11:19 AM CST
Economic Fury Is the New Culture War
Republican Governor-elect Chris Christie.   (AP Photo)

"Conservatives have supposedly gotten their groove back," Peter Beinart writes about the results of yesterday's state races, "but it's not the same old groove." The candidates who won—or almost won—downplayed social issues and focused on the economy, which Beinart calls the “new culture war." Sure, a “jihad against deficit spending” isn’t a particularly coherent position when spending and stimulus are keeping the country afloat. But “economic fury” brings in votes, and it’s something the entire country can understand.

The shift began with last year's Wall Street crash, when "economic issues swept everything aside, and McCain, who seemed bored by the economic meltdown, and Palin, who seemed bewildered by it, were swept away, too." Hence the new conservative economic activism. Still, most voters are pragmatic, and the move could backfire. If the economy recovers by Election 2012, Beinart writes on the Daily Beast, “the right’s anti-government crusade will likely strike swing voters as irrelevant and obnoxious.” (More Christopher Christie stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X