This, on Webb's populism, strikes me as quite right:
Let me try to explain it succinctly. Those who've grown up among the Ulster diaspora are particularly prone to taking sides, to looking at the world as a battle of "us and them". When voting, they're not really looking at what a candidate is for, but rather who a candidate is for. Right-wingers have successfully wooed Ulsterites by characterizing "them" as San Francisco liberals. Webb is arguing that the more appropriate "them" would be Wall Street profiteers.
True enough, and it's precisely that aptitude for target choice that makes Webb's election thrilling. Nevertheless, the racial undertones of his op-ed are troubling. The financial, journalistic, and political elite certainly come in for a lashing. But I got the distinct impression that Webb was also hinting at a Protestant-Jewish overclass that was promoting, on eugenic grounds, the interests of Asians and South Indians while blocking Mexicans, Blacks, and Scots-Irish. But as I said, it's vague stuff, so I'll leave it to individual interpretation. What do you make of this graf?
an unspoken insinuation seems to be inundating our national debate: Certain immigrant groups have the "right genetics" and thus are natural entrants to the "overclass," while others, as well as those who come from stock that has been here for 200 years and have not made it to the top, simply don't possess the necessary attributes.
