The author of an article in Pajamas Media asks "Will things get better for conservatives in 2009?" This is a fine and hopeful question, since he obviously views himself as one of the embattled band of conservatives battered by the Obama election. A couple of things need to be said about the analysis with which he finds hope for the conservative cause in the coming year.
First, we have the conflation of "conservatives" with "Republicans." If, in fact, the Republican Party has been diminished to the hard core of self-described conservatives, those driven by fear of change and hatred of modernity, the answer to the author's question will be a resounding "No!" The only hope for the Republican Party is to expand its constituency, and that, in turn, means abandoning some positions that are dear to the hearts of conservatives. An improvement in the fortunes of the Republicans may actually mean a diminution in the influence of the conservative movement.
Second, the author's imagination doesn't seem to extend to the possibility that the conservative movement, or the Republican Party might actually come up with any positive ideas that could win over voters. His hopes lie in the failure of Mr. Obama's program to promote economic recovery or financial sanity. I don't see how it can be good for the conservatives to root for an extended recession, higher unemployment, and failing financial institutions, just in order to be able to portray the Democrats as failures. Not only would they reinforce their identification as the party of Herbert Hoover, their schadenfreude would repulse many Americans. After all, putting party ahead of country is supposed to be a bad thing. So, in sum, things might get better for conservatives, according to this author, at the cost of extended suffering for the people of the country, and more self-destructive behavior on the part of the Republican Party. What I'm not clear on is just what are these so-called conservatives trying to conserve.
Note: I posted this item to Cafe Third Edition first, although I intended to post it here. I'm happy it's out on Cafe Third Edition, but I wanted those who might visit this site to see it, as well.
Glenn A Knight
In my study
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
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I just finished reeading a book called "Confessions of a Political Hitman," which was mainly about the authors life as an "Oppositon Researcher." Late in the book, he has an epiphany that basically amounted to 2 things. He was a diehard Republican for a long time, but he discovered that a)there were scandals and corruption on both sides of the aisle and b) he saw several cases in which a political idea would be discredited or discounted simply because it came from the "wrong" person.
I will freely admit that I'm not politically knowledgeable, but I am making the effort to learn more and become more active. It seems to me that country should come first, no matter what side it comes from. I hope that we will see more of that in the coming years.
I recently finished a book titled, "Confessions of a Political Hitman," and while the main point of the book was to tell about his life as an "Opposition Reseacher," he had an epiphany at some point where he realized that his perspective was so focused on finding dirt on "the bad guy," i.e. the opponent that he was hired to find dirt on, that he failed to see the big picture. There were and are scandals and corruption on both sides of the aisle, and b) it doesn't make sense to disregard a geninely good idea or policy, even if it comes from the opposition. As you stated in your blog, putting party before country is not a good thing.
I will freely admit that I don't know much about political thought or process, but I'm learning and reading. This statement makes sense to me and it seems that it should make sense to most people.
Good to have your contribution, Chris. Confessions of a Political Hitman sounds interesting.
Another book approaching the same topic from a more academic point of view is The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation, by Steven M. Gillon. It was published in 2008 by Oxford University Press.
One of Gillon's main points is the degree to which the "leaders" were captives of their "followers." Gingrich had used highly partisan, even inflammatory tactics to push the Republicans to a majority in the House of Representatives. After he became Speaker, he realized that he needed to moderate his positions and enter into some compromises in order to accomplish his goals, but the right-wing class of 1994 wouldn't back off from the hardline stances on which they'd been elected.
Clinton was also, in many ways, more moderate than his party. He was prepared to compromise to reach a solution to the problem of Social Security, but when he needed the left wing of his party to fight his impeachment and conviction, he was no longer free to oppose their wishes.
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