Greenberg's notion is that because he can push-poll the American electorate into saying they want more of everything for everyone at someone else's expense, they ought to be voting progressivist. From the fact that they aren't he concludes that they are deluded by the election-time advertising of the nasty-slimy rich and the evil Engulf and Devour, Inc., so that what would really help them to make better choices is restrictions on political speech.
Though the idea of more public benefits appeals to many Americans, the idea of economic equality for everyone doesn't. We Americans are fine with being economically equal to those more productive than we are, but only if we don't have to work harder, or take more risk. And we're certainly not fine with being economically equal to those less productive. Help those folks out a bit when they are in genuine distress, sure. Buy them wide screen TVs? Not a chance.
I agree with Barone, one of my favorite election analysts, when he says
- But ordinary Americans don't want money as much as they want honor. They want the chance to achieve what American Enterprise Institute President Arthur Brooks calls "earned success."
- They want public policies that enable them to earn success, and they resent policies that channel money to the politically well positioned or to those who have not made decisions and taken actions necessary for earned success. They want to be empowered, not patronized.
That's why, though the left continues to beat the class warfare drum, their dog just won't hunt here.
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* In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tale "Silver Blaze," Holmes famously observes that the key to the mystery of the disappearance of the race horse was "What the dog did in the night." When Watson pointed out that the dog had done nothing in the night, Holmes snapped back "Exactly!"
