I have two coworkers who are, politically, to the right. Conservatives. However, they have some differences of opinion on some policy matters, and they occupy different niches of the conservative worldview, at least as it is in the United States of America in the early 21st century.
The first one is the one I call the Palinite, which is a reference to former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. He was certain she was going to win over huge swathes of voters in 2008, and supported her for the presidency. Never mind that she was the second person on the Republican ticket, she was the star. Since my Palinite coworker is of the opinion that government can’t work, it did not matter to him at all that Sarah Palin showed the leadership and governing skills of a 12 year old; she was sexy, and she was his fantasy woman; and she liked guns. And that was all that mattered.
Guns, to the Palinite, are huge. That’s not really a metaphor, either. Policy-wise, the Second Amendment of the Constitution is pretty much the beginning and the end of Constitutional issues for him. The National Rifleman’s Association is simply the only lobbying group that matters, and to him, all politicians are only as good as their rating by the NRA. Of course, Democratic politicians, even with a positive score on how well the protect gun rights, get minuses simply for belonging to the wrong party.
On other issues, I have a sneaking suspicion that the Palinite only takes a position in an argument when he knows that arguing that will irritate the other person. He has a sly, sneaky style that seems engineered to get under peoples’ skins, and he covers it in a coating of aw shucks down-home-ism, delivered with a wink and a Jimmy Stewart-esque accent. He argues from a position of authority, even when he is making blatantly wrong assertions. His catch phrase is “What you’re failing to understand, here, is…”
In the last two major primary elections, the Palinite could legitimately claim to be a registered Democrat. He did this in order to vote for the weakest candidate, in order to help whoever won the Republican primary. It is his belief that thousands, even millions, of nominal Republicans do this every time; the Democrats, he believes, are simply too weak and slow-thinking to even conceive of such a subversive action. He believes he needs to do this because he lives in a state, Oregon, that has succumbed to the weakness of liberal thought.
He’s in his mid-50s but dyes his hair jet black; he exercises regularly because he’s combating adult-onset diabetes; and in general, outside of politics he’s friendly, a decent, if unimaginative, worker.