If I were a politician trying to win back independents, I’d say something like this: When I was a kid, I had a jigsaw puzzle of the U.S. Each state was a piece, and on it there was a drawing showing what people made there. California might have movies; Washington State, apples; New York, fashion or publishing. That puzzle represented an economy that was diverse and deeply rooted.
We’ve lost that. First Wall Street got disproportionately big, then Washington. It’s time to return to fundamentals. No short-term fixes. Government should do what it’s supposed to do: schools, roads, basic research. It should not be picking C.E.O.’s or setting pay or fizzing up the economy with more debt. It should give people the tools to compete, not rig the competition. Lines of restraint have dissolved, and they need to be restored.
Independents support the party that seems most likely to establish a frame of stability and order, within which they can lead their lives. They can’t always articulate what they want, but they withdraw from any party that threatens turmoil and risk. As always, they’re looking for a safe pair of hands.
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Independents…. run as fast as you can!
David Brooks is coming to help.
katy on November 6, 2009 at 9:32 PM
A choice?
Hog Wild on November 6, 2009 at 9:32 PM
EGAD Brooks is pontificating on independents now. RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
denniscb on November 6, 2009 at 9:33 PM
Obama: “A 57 piece puzzle.”
farright on November 6, 2009 at 9:33 PM
If I were an independent, I’d want David Brooks to shut the hell up.
Erich66 on November 6, 2009 at 9:35 PM
“Independent” is not an ideological grouping.
exception on November 6, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Fiscal responsibility minus federal regulation of social conservative issues. (States rights)
Socmodfiscon on November 6, 2009 at 9:40 PM
Independents exist because of our disfunctional bipolar political system.
There are MORE than two poles… There are Soc Cons, and Liberals, and Libertarians… and there are Fiscal Cons, and Big Gov types….
Yet we give people only TWO realistic groups to vote for.
That there are more “independents” than ever before, is indicative of the fact that the two parties do not adequatly represent a lot of the electorate…. yet they retain their stranglehold on power…
Romeo13 on November 6, 2009 at 9:43 PM
Brooks saw the light last Tuesday as well.
d1carter on November 6, 2009 at 9:45 PM
Oh, David, they want big, hot , steamy pants creases.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on November 6, 2009 at 9:47 PM
My my, how times change. It was only last fall when they supported the party who gave them a black man who could deliver awesome speeches.
fogw on November 6, 2009 at 10:02 PM
We want journalists who, after having lunch with the President off the record, don’t push his agenda.
bbh on November 6, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Three fourths of Americans always did want the equivalent of conservative core principles, Republicans broke the contract and pissed everybody off.
If the GOP doesn’t want to be fired permanently they need to show strong contrasts, get the hell out of peoples personal lives and show with actions that liberty, fiscal responsibility, sovereignty, security and jobs, jobs, jobs are permanent, unshakable fixtures of whoever represents the Right.
Speakup on November 6, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Translation: “Obama! Please be like Bill and triangulate pronto!!!”
ddrintn on November 6, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Does ANYONE other than David Brooks care what David Brooks thinks about anything? I guess in some small way I care. He’s worth listening to so you can do the opposite of whatever he’s suggesting.
Dark Eden on November 6, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Independents want a finely creased pair of trousers.
the world according to Brooks
james23 on November 6, 2009 at 10:54 PM
To see their enemies driven before them and hear the lamentations of their women.
jhffmn on November 6, 2009 at 11:27 PM
A guy with wickedly awesome creased pants.
lorien1973 on November 6, 2009 at 11:41 PM
Dammit. Didn’t see yours first LOL
lorien1973 on November 6, 2009 at 11:42 PM
.
Really? So now that you know most Americans have moved to the right, idiots like you will stop attacking solid conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity right? Yeah. I wouldn’t hold my breathe.
You now have confirmation from the “almighty” Gallup that most Americans are trending conservative. Do you still believe that RINOs like McCain, Powell, Snow and Collins are the future of the Republican Party? Inquiring minds want to know David!
If I were “a” politician trying to win back independents? In 2006 and 2008 Democrats “won” most of the independent votes. Last Tuesday independents went the other way and voted Republican. So therefore shouldn’t that be if I were a Democrat politician?
This wishy-washy piece is typical of a spineless RINO like you David. You are desperate to be included in the celebrations of last Tuesday’s conservative victory, but at the same time terrified of alienating your liberal “friends”.
Maybe if you end that unhealthy fixation with Obama’s pant crease you might jar yourself back to reality.
RMR on November 6, 2009 at 11:59 PM
Gee what ever happened to Rationalia (or whatever the blue states were) and Dumbf***istan/Jesusland?!! I think the Dems divided the maps first with that crap.
But now we’ve all got to pull together and vote Dem.
Axeman on November 7, 2009 at 3:05 AM
Not David “creased pants” Brooks
nyx on November 7, 2009 at 7:20 AM
Err, ahhh, David, isn’t this a racist remark? Or at least judgmental?
Herb on November 7, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Actually, the excerpt is good. It pains Brooks to write something that goes against his beliefs which is why there’s more a flavor of expediency, not principle, to this advice.
Dusty on November 7, 2009 at 9:13 AM
I don’t know what independents want, but I’ll tell you what they need and that’s a brain that can retain some kind of philosophical consistency instead of being swayed this way and that by whichever politician/pundit/journalist/stand-up comic they listened to last. In my mind there has to be something seriously wrong with a person who could just as easily vote Democrat as Republican.
Sharke on November 7, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Government shouldn’t even do basic research and I’m not 100% sold on them doing highways. Toll road with a proportionate decrease in gas tax would probably end up being cheaper with safer and more efficient travel.
Tim Burton on November 7, 2009 at 12:16 PM