Austerity politics.

• Author: Conniff, Ruth
• Position: Comment

If God, Guns, and Gays glued together the Republican coalition for the last few Presidential elections, this year rightwing politicians have switched from social issues to a new unifying agent--resentment of public employees.

"Divide and conquer," as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker put it, is the Republican strategy of the hour, and it is very powerful indeed.

You wouldn't think that deep cuts in health care, education, and public works would be particularly popular with lower-middle-class voters--especially when the money that used to support these public goods is transferred directly to the rich and corporations in the form of huge tax breaks.

But the Republicans promote their attack on government as part of a populist backlash against lazy and overfed union members. And it turns out that economic insecurity has taken such a toll on Americans' psyches that tearing down teachers and firefighters who appear to have a better deal really resonates with the white working class.

Mitt Romney recently attacked President Obama in a speech in Iowa, saying: "He says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did."

That message, according to Romney, is that "it's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people."

In Wisconsin, where Walker won the recall election by a 7 percent margin, people bought the Republican message in a big way.

It helps, of course, to have millions and millions of dollars to pour into a television ad campaign, no matter what you're selling. Rightwing billionaires and shadowy groups including Americans for Prosperity and the Republican State Leadership Committee played a major role in Wisconsin, as they will in November.

But the politics of resentment is not succeeding just because of the money.

In his 2004 book, What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, Thomas Frank documented conservatives' triumph in the culture wars. By pushing God, Guns, and Gays, Republicans induced millions of lower-middle-class Americans to vote against their own economic interests.

What happened in Wisconsin is another stage of the same game. Republicans whip up indignation against an "elite" that supposedly despises decent, hardworking American values. In the past, it was feminists and leftwing academics. Now it's union members and public employees.

Frank pointed out that by focusing on abortion and gay marriage, the right was...