Disclaimer: I'm white, middle class, and retired military.  The cars are paid for, the home mortgage balance sheet is right-side up, the credit card balance is paid off every month, the paycheck is good and stable, and there's a kid in college.  And you know what?  I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it, anymore.  To my surprise, Newt Gingrich is giving a way to voice that, on the National stage.

Jay Cost, in a post in the Weekly Standard ("Newt Gingrich and the Politics of Frustration,"22 January), wrote about why he thinks South Carolina's Conservatives were startlingly responsive to Mr. Gingrich.  In essence, he thinks it is because somebody, somewhere, is finally sticking it to the elites.  "It's the economy, stupid" was a political catchphrase made popular during Mr. Clinton's presidential run in 1992.   Many have credited that catchphrase with putting a voice to popular discontent.  Twenty years later, it may be more anger than the economy that enables a new catchphrase: It's the anger, stupid.  

Conservatives may be finally shedding their "silent majority" mantle from the Nixon era.  South Carolina's results looked like a full-throated roar of disapproval from those Conservatives.  That roar was in frustration over how their lives and values have been ripped apart to appease what many may view as an unmotivated, uneducated and undeserving "poor", and a sneering, aloof, over-educated, self-serving, hyper-"PC," and power-grabbing Washington Establishment. In Newt Gingrich, they found a plain-spoken yet articulate guy who looks just like one of them and at least sounds just like the guy who can (finally) stick it to the MAN.  Anyone looking for proof need look no further than the standing ovations Mr. Gingrich got in the January 16 and 19 debates.  He unapologetically and forcefully responded to moderators Williams and King that, basically, no, he wasn't going to apologize for speaking truth to power.  The crowd didn't just rise... it practically jumped to its feet in approbation.

For years, Conservatives have worked hard to pay their taxes and buy only when and what they could afford to.  Those Conservatives took the tough courses to get the good jobs, and stayed true to their God, their family, their Country and themselves.  To their disgust they found that has only gotten their values mocked in movies and on TV.  Their taxes go to pay for social programs but there's no money "left over" to pay for infrastructure repairs or improvements that were overdue twenty years ago.  Conservatives are stunned to see the World's finest Department of Defense plundered as an outdated luxury. To add insult to injury, their President that tells them that they're not doing their fair share so... they'd better sit down and "...eat [their] peas."

That's politics as postured poor parenting, and Conservatives recognize it as the patronizing sneer it is.  "Eat your peas."  Right.  We'll eat our peas when you pay the mortgage, Daddy.  Err, Mr. President. 

Only time will tell if Conservative's glee over someone, somewhere, finally speaking up can long stand, and if Mr. Gingrich can survive his own success.  In the meantime, Conservatives can delight in the sound of their own voice.

Update -- Sara Goss adds:

Newt Terrifies GOP Establishment

Wow. Even Drudge has joined the fray against Newt.  The GOP elites have finally realized that Newt is not a flash in the pan and he has a real chance at the nomination. This is why we are seeing them all pile on. They must nip this in the bud before it gains any real traction.

I am so sick of this. They are just not getting it. When Newt went after John King and Juan Williams he struck a real chord in all of us. He said exactly what we have all wanted to say for a long time. But the GOP establishment is invested in Mitt and ignored the standing O from the back of the room. It's the unwashed again. You can ignore them.

Note to GOP: we are tired of playing nice. We are tired of candidates won't go after Obama and the LSM. We are tired of you telling us who is "electable" and who isn't. We will decide who is electable, not you!

Their combined ferocity against Newt really leads me to believe that Newt will do everything he says he will do in the 21^st Century Contract With America. If so, that will make them irrelevant. And that is why they are terrified of Newt.