Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Fat, Populist, and Stupid is No Way to Go Through Politics, Son

For some blue-state conservatives who honed their political skills by continuously debating liberal peers, mingling with attendees presented unique challenges. Jesse Eiseman and Tyler Trumbach, who came from Columbia University to attend the conference, interrupted a spirited debate over the fall of the Roman Empire to complain to The Daily Beast about the anti-intellectual bent of fellow conservatives at CPAC. 'They have an opinion, but they don't give evidence to back it up, they don't use logic,' Trumbach said. Eiseman added, 'In a lot of ways I feel closer to left-wing intellectuals...I love the populists, I agree with them on many things, but I am scared of what happens when people stop thinking.' The two quickly took to hiding their name badges showing their college in order to avoid ridicule after speakers trashed academic elites onstage. 'There are a lot of anti-Ivy Leaguers around,' Eiseman said....For all the differences between them, however, most attendees said they felt little tension with their fellow conservatives on a personal level.

“We respect each other's viewpoints,” Travis Korson, a George Washington University student, said. “You just don't talk about things you disagree [about].”
[Benjamin Sarlin, The Daily Beast]

If having been to college is embarrassing, the "movement" has a problem. (Nod to Kevin L)

2 comments:

Frank said...

Based on the title, I thought this was a post about Mike Huckabee.

El General said...

I see the truth in this article, however I believe the growing liberty movement among college students is really kicking the anti-intellectual sentiment to the curb. I was at CPAC and experienced my fare share of blind "conservatism", yet rest assured the new age young conservative/libertarian is evolving. Some of the most stimulating talks of my life took place until 4am, 3 nights in a row. If you search people like these out, they can be found