Talking to Conservatives, Part 2

Don't know how to talk to conservatives? Let leading conservative David Brooks do it for you. In a recent interview, Brooks shared personal anecdotes about why he is "dazzled" by Obama's intellect and social perception. He praised Obama's advisers as "by far the most impressive people in the Democratic party," singling out Joe Biden for special commendation. And in no uncertain terms, he condemned Palin's dangerous anti-intellectualism, calling her a "fatal cancer to the Republican party."

Obama has the great intellect. I was interviewing Obama a couple years ago, and I'm getting nowhere with the interview, it's late in the night, he's on the phone, walking off the Senate floor, he's cranky. Out of the blue I say, 'Ever read a guy named Reinhold Niebuhr?' And he says, 'Yeah.' So i say, 'What did Niebuhr mean to you?' For the next 20 minutes, he gave me a perfect description of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought, which is a very subtle thought process based on the idea that you have to use power while it corrupts you. And I was dazzled, I felt the tingle up my knee as Chris Matthews would say.

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Note: this will carry weight only with smart conservatives. When talking to populist idiots, try explaining that the entitlement programs McCain is so eager to cut actually include the ones they're on.