Margy Waller, and arts researcher and advisor who was a senior White House advisor on domestic policy under President Clinton, responds to Mitt Snit: Romney Would Ax National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities:
Saw your post about Mitt Romney on the NEA. He actually said this as early as last December, when he was caught on video. I’ve been using this video in my talks about the need for a new communications strategy that will
build broad support for the arts.This is a classic example of using the arts when making the case for smaller government, even thought the NEA, PBS, and NEH are mere drops in the federal budget bucket and eliminating them wouldn’t do anything of significance to address the deficit. The use of the arts this way illustrates how vulnerable they are in the public dialogue. When the arts are used to make fun of the federal budget, leaders reinforce the notion that 1) government is too big and wasteful and 2) art is for elites who should pay for it themselves.
Thanks for highlighting it.