One of our most insightful social observers cracks the great political mystery of our time: how conservatism, once a marker of class privilege, became the creed of millions of ordinary Americans
How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Metropolitan Books
June 2004
320 pages ISBN: 0805073396 Hardcover Add to Wish List
With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the βthirty-year backlashββthe populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Partyβs success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers.
In asking βwhat βs the matter with Kansas?ββhow a place famous for its radicalism became one of the most conservative states in the unionβFrank, a native Kansan and onetime Republican, seeks to answer some broader American riddles: Why do so many of us vote against our economic interests? Whereβs the outrage at corporate manipulators? And whatever happened to middle-American progressivism? The questions are urgent as well as provocative. Frank answers them by examining pop conservatismβthe bestsellers, the radio talk shows, the vicious political combatβand showing how our long culture wars have left us with an electorate far more concerned with their leadersβ βvaluesβ and down- home qualities than with their stands on hard questions of policy.
A brilliant analysisβand funny to bootβWhatβs the Matter with Kansas? presents a critical assessment of who we are, while telling a remarkable story of how a group of frat boys, lawyers, and CEOs came to convince a nation that they spoke on behalf of the People.
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