David Brooks remarks today that The Tea Party movement, ” is now more popular than either major party, and it may become a major force in American politics.” This isn’t just a political shift from left to right, although that is occurring according to most polls. It’s a deeply anti-elitist shift as well, with every “idea associated with the educated class” growing seemingly more and more unpopular this year:
The educated class believes in global warming, so public skepticism about global warming is on the rise. The educated class supports abortion rights, so public opinion is shifting against them. The educated class supports gun control, so opposition to gun control is mounting…The story is the same in foreign affairs. The educated class is internationalist, so isolationist sentiment is now at an all-time high, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The educated class believes in multilateral action, so the number of Americans who believe we should “go our own way” has risen sharply.
Brooks is no fan of the Tea Party movement, but he clearly sees its potential to shape the coming decade’s politics. Put it in the “ignore at your own risk” file.