Rorschach Quote of the Day

“We don’t need a new idea. The idea is called America, and it still works.”—Senator Marco Rubio at CPAC.

A good applause line, to be sure (and conservative, given its opposition to new stuff).  However, it reminds me of people who opine that government should “do the right thing,”

As always:  the devil is in the details.

FILED UNDER: US Politics, , ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. OzarkHillbilly says:

    The idea is called America, and it still works.

    “Hey Senator, which America is it that you think ‘works’?”

  2. C. Clavin says:

    America does work…if you are rich (relatively speaking) old and white…in other words…a Republicanist.

    He also said in the same speech that it is an;

    “…absolute fact that science is proven that life begins at conception…”

    I don’t think anyone finds it suprising that CPAC speakers are blithely untethered from reality.

  3. Mark Ivey says:

    CPAC crowd is easy to please..

  4. Rob in CT says:

    It’s a vapid line.

    For actual credit, define this idea called America.

  5. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Demographics. If you’re warming up a crowd at an S&M convention you’d probably tell a few bondage-gone-wrong jokes, right? And if you’re hanging out with a bunch of sheet metal workers at a sports bar you’re probably not going to be well served talking about your chess game at the country club.

    The crowd at CPAC is young, cocooned, inexperienced, very idealistic and quite loopy. They fancy themselves as new-age patriots or whatever. Empty platitudes get them all fired up, easily. And when in Rome…..

  6. @Tsar Nicholas:

    And when in Rome…..

    On the one hand, of course.

    On the other: if the event is supposed to be a launching forth point for 2016, not to mention a means of making a PR move (because of the obvious media coverage) then the smart move would be to find a way to make a more useful and broader appeal.

    In short: the GOP of late has campaigned like they are always at CPAC.

  7. deathcar2000 says:

    @Steven L. Taylor:

    The ferver swamp over at FreeRepublic seems to believe that CPAC has become very liberal. Some have even gone as far to say its been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. No joke

  8. Moosebreath says:

    It’s called a dog whistle, Steven. Rubio’s signalling that he’s a believer in American Exceptionalism, unlike that Kenyan in the White House.

  9. Franklin says:

    “We don’t a new idea.”

    What does sentence this even mean? What word is missing and where? C’mon, Steven!

  10. @Franklin: The missing word is “need”–it was missing from the course I quoted and I didn’t notice. Thanks.