Good take from Allahpundit in response to Brooks’ column yesterday:

Could be. Or, it could be that the country’s reacting to Obama, not because he’s an intellekshual but because he’s a leftist. As I said once before of a Gallup poll about abortion, “The more the man in the White House is perceived as a threat to an issue you care about, the more ardent your defense of that issue is likely to become.” Elect President Palin in 2012 and see what happens to independents vis-a-vis abortion and guns. As for foreign policy, permit me to suggest that the rise of isolationism is due not to a mindless “whatever they’re fer, we’re agin’!” reaction to eggheads but rather to the emotional and financial depletion caused by two long wars. And even so, it’s the right, of course — which overlaps with the tea-party movement to a far greater extent than the left — that’s providing the chief support for The One’s tentative nation-building enterprise in Afghanistan. So much for knee-jerk opposition to the educated class.
I could go on, but we’re headed for a 500-comment thread here so let’s hop to it. Exit question via Karl: To the extent that Brooks is right that this is a reaction to the educated class, could it be that that’s because the educated class has royally screwed up?

Update: And here’s Richard Adams with more.