The Plumber and The Paperboy

On Red Eye last night, Greg Gutfeld nailed his analysis of Joe the Plumber, creepy conservative wunderkind Jonathan Krohn, and the state of leadership in the conservative movement:

Now I’m not saying that the plumber or the paperboy don’t belong in the conservative movement. They just shouldn’t be IN FRONT of it. We’ll find our leaders, or hopefully, soon they’ll find us. But it’s not going to be a guy whose middle name is an article, or a boy still sleeping in a twin bed. We don’t, in fact, need anyone who “plays a role.” What’s needed is someone, like Kemp, who was both real, and smart – and not a cartoon.

Everything Greg said is fairly obvious, and yet, it’s the kind of obvious that needs to be shouted from the rooftops because so many people aren’t getting it.  Read the whole thing.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on May 6, 2009 at 8:32 pm

Filed Under Conservatism

Comments

4 Responses to “The Plumber and The Paperboy”

  1. Pagan Temple on May 16th, 2009 7:52 am

    I dunno. It sounds kind of elitist to me. Not all leaders are born and bred to be leaders. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, way too many of them are. A true leader in a lot of cases just has it in him, or her, and when the situation calls for it, rises to the occasion.

    Now I’m not saying we should all get behind the “Joe The Plumber For President” bandwagon any time soon, but the fact is, when he found himself in the position of a face-to-face encounter with a presidential candidate whose economic policies he strongly disagreed with, what did he do?

    He calmly questioned him, did not rant or rave and shake his fist or spit and sputter, nor did he quiver like a jellyfish, or grovel like a star-struck teenager infatuated with celebrity. He kept his bearings, his calm, and his cool, and made his point. A devastating point, one that served to catapult him to the limelight and made him a central focus of what might well turn out to be the most pivotal election in American history thus far.

    There have been myriads of other civilians, who spoke their piece for good or ill, during campaign appearances, town hall meetings, etc.

    Can you name one of them?

  2. Jenn Q. Public on May 16th, 2009 10:18 am

    Sorry your comment ended up in my spam filter.

    I agree with you, insofar as I found JTP a great grassroots spokesman for fiscal conservatism during the 2008 campaign. Your description of Joe and the role he played last fall is spot on, and I don’t buy into the idea that we need a political class dominated by intellectual elites who all attended Ivy League schools.

    But I believe the conservative movement needs leaders who can translate principles into effective policies and legislation. Joe and Jonathan Krohn have (so far) only demonstrated that they can articulate existing ideas and core conservative principles. They seem to do well with rallying the CPAC crowd, and there’s certainly a need for that, but they’re hardly out there proposing policy reforms and drawing new voters into the conservative fold the way Reagan and Goldwater did.

    We need people at the helm who can be more than icons. Looking at the current conservative political landscape, I have to agree with Gutfeld that no one has really emerged as THE new leader of the conservative movement.

  3. Pagan Temple on May 16th, 2009 10:45 pm

    The reason for that is the conservative movement is splintered and on the verge of war within its various factions. In the end, the true casualty is going to be Federalism, which is ironically the only thing that can save the conservative movement, which without it will quickly degenerate into a regional party. They are even slowly but surely losing their hold on the western states.

    The Federalist approach, as enumerated by such men as Fred Thompson, can regain lost ground, and build on it.

    I see Sarah palin as the most likely conservative leader at this point in time, but 2012 is too quick for her. The only way she (or anybody else) can save the party is a two-part strategy, as I see it.

    1. Adopt Federalism as the core national governing philosophy

    3. Whoever gains control of the party, whoever becomes its standard bearer, must remake the party in his or her image (be it Palin or anyone else) as opposed to the national party remaking the candidate in it’s image-which at this stage is a pretty sad image.

    Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen and heard, this won’t happen in 2012. It might not happen in 2016 either, but it is a lot more likely to happen then under a Palin, or somebody like her.

    The most unfortunate thing about that fact is it probably means a full eight years of Democratic party control. But that will be the fault of the RNC, whose elitist leaders want to build the party by being more like Democrats, just not quite as much. That is a recipe for continued disaster, but unfortunately, that kind of thinking rules the day.

  4. Jenn Q. Public on May 17th, 2009 3:58 pm

    A lot of people are surprised to learn that I like Palin a lot even though we differ on certain social issues. Some people suggest that her views are “too conservative” and therefore divisive, but I would remind them that millions of Democrats (the PUMAs) jumped ship to vote for Palin and her running mate.

    I don’t have high hopes for the Republicans in 2012, in large part due to the splintering you mentioned. I’d like to see Palin continue to do a great job in Alaska while taking the time to build her foreign policy credentials. She should write plenty of op-eds and attend all the right policy summits, then throw her hat in the ring in 2016.

    I think you’re absolutely right that emphasis on the principles of federalism will save the movement. Several states have recently passed resolutions affirming the Tenth Amendment, and more resolutions are on the way. Federalism can unite conservatives, Republicans, and libertarians, and even holds appeal for moderate Democrats, many of whom will be fed up with the inflated federal government after 8 years.

    Of course, if Obama continues with his bailouts and stimulus packages and the economy is still in shambles in a couple of years, there may be hope for a hard line fiscal conservative like Mark Sanford in 2012. We shall see.

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