Inessentials

I’ve been interested for a while in the support that Barack Obama has been garnering from many conservative thinkers. (E.g., conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, those discussed in this “Obamacon” article.) While the vast majority of conservatives will either vote for McCain, vote third-party, or not vote at all this November, a number of prominent conservatives have come out in (sometimes cautious, sometimes enthusiastic) support of Obama. Why is that? There are a few reasons that I can see.

1. Libertarian goals: For conservatives with libertarian ideals (those who want to restrict government involvement in all areas of life, save for national defense and police protection), the two most important issues this elections cycle are leaving Iraq and rolling back the Patriot Act. On these two issues, Obama is the clear choice over McCain, who still supports the war and has recently been talking as if he now supports the Patriot Act, a change from his earlier position.

2. Bootstrapping biography: American conservatives are often drawn to stories that fall into line with Horatio Alger stories of a person who defeats all odds to rise to a successful (read: wealthy and powerful) life despite the most pitiful birth. Upward economic and social mobility is at the heart of America’s self image, and Obama’s life story fits that nicely.

3. Redrawing the political map: Some conservatives are tired of the political entrenchment that has characterized the Clinton-Morris and Bush-Rove years. Not interested in a protracted ground war over arbitrary boundaries, they want to shake up electoral politics the way they think Reagan did in 1980. The best chance of that happening is with an Obama presidency. Apparently the thought is by shaking things up, there can be a new scramble for congressional districts along new divisions.

4. Rhetoric and uplift: Some conservatives are entranced by Obama’s speaking ability and awed by his massive turnout at campaign events. Like Chris Matthews, they get a shiver down their leg when he speaks. I’m not sure how this counts as a reason for supporting someone, but it gets mentioned.

5. Values votes: Obama is comfortable talking about the values he finds important, and is quite eloquent in talking about them. (See 2 & 4.) Many of these values (hard work, personal drive, care for others, importance of family) are the ones that draw people to conservatism. Perhaps McCain also finds these important, but he is less comfortable talking about them in a political setting.

Each of these reasons assumes that the particular conservative understands well the reasons that they believe in conservatism and can identify those reasons in others and make their choice accordingly. Most voters, however, are probably not that clear, though, on what they believe, why, and how that applies. For them (and I think this is the majority), they are more clear on the positions they support and only have an inkling of the principles that lead to those positions. So (except for those choosing based on 1), they probably won’t identify with Obama. That’s why I’m not expecting some mass exodus from the Republican party or a major shake-up in American politics.