You’re right about the liberalizing effects of feeling oneself doing well. This creates a bit of a puzzle, though, about Republicans, who are both the party of the wealthy business elite and the party of immigration denial.

Partly this reveals a split in the party between the bes and the wannabes. But partly it has to do with a conservative frame of mind for which no amount of wealth or success is enough to feel well. These are people who feel like they’re under attack no matter what.

People who feel under attack don’t think too clearly. Manipulating that fact is a lot of what political rhetoric is about. People who don’t feel under attack and who are thinking clearly offer very little political traction; they’re for ya or agin’ ya all by themselves. So that’s not who Obama is talking to, or about.

This is a neat site. Thanks.