Each of these was born into a marginalized class. Each chose to achieve political power by further damaging and limiting the opportunities for other members of that class. Both discovered that one could rise fast in the political culture, by telling the people in power exactly what they wanted to hear.
Schlafly, having married into wealth, built her brand by working feverishly to ensure that other women, those who didn’t marry as successfully as she, would be denied the ability to create their own wealth. When the Equal Rights Amendment was being debated, Schlafly, mother of six, anointed herself as the principal opponent, the very paragon of motherhood, capable of articulating the wants and needs of all women. Leaving her children to be raised by whatever nannies or household help was at hand, she jetted about the country, feted by legislatures anxious to hear their prejudices confirmed; endlessly interviewed by media hanging on her every ‘just a housewife’ riff on ‘what women want’. It is undeniable that she spoke intelligently, regardless of the paucity of her knowledge as to how typical women lived. Moderate in tone, never flustered, perfectly coifed, pearls in place and consummately convinced that she was right, she was an incredibly effective voice for the status quo. And because legislatures were disproportionately male, she was preaching to the choir. They ate it up. No one ever asked her who was raising her children while she crisscrossed the country.
Carson’s hypocrisy and betrayal is even more stunning than Schlafly’s. From childhood through his advanced medical education, Carson was the beneficiary of public assistance. He benefited from public housing, food stamps, Medicaid, free eyeglasses, and affirmative action access to higher education. In a reality based world, he would be the poster child for the efficacy of such programs, but now, toadying up to the Republican electorate, he assures them that all the programs which enabled his success, should be denied to others. Affordable health care is similar to slavery in his skewed view. Like Schlafly, he is soft spoken, appearing moderate, while promulgating ideas guaranteed to further marginalize already disadvantaged Americans. It is, of course, what base voters want to hear and his partisans can cheer him on, savoring the fact that of course they’re not racists, because they support Ben Carson. He’s a guilty pleasure in the way that Herman Cain was last election cycle. And they know he’s never going near the Oval Office without a White House tour guide, so there’s no danger in euphoric praise.