AS has all this hand-wringing about Conservatism, going on, related to what's going to happen after the Conservatives sacrifice McCain to their Moloch (assuming Obama wins).
Who cares?
First, the idea of a resurgent Democratic party a la FDR is ridiculous. FDR commanded the Party, even gave it a new song. There is little or no indication that Obama can, wants to, could learn to, or will. (And that could be a good thing. Maybe Barack can be more like Ike...who knows. He could usher-in and define a new mode of politics, if he doesn't get too insulated in 'the pocket', too soon. We'll see. He seems pretty deep in the pocket to me, already - and the military have yet to give him their full shock-and-awe treatment).
Second, believe me, progressivism in America is weak, not strong.
Here's a case in point. During the primary debates, everyone was falling all over themselves about voting for the GOP's bankruptcy bill. I think this is the one in which interest rates weren't capped, but allowed to wander up to 30%, if credit-card companies felt the need to put the screws to someone.
So, did the unwind of that provision make its way into the recent bank-rescue plan?
I'm not even sure it was on anyone's mind, frankly, even though Hillary Clinton deeply embarrassed herself on national television over the issue ... ("I voted for the Bill, but was glad it didn't pass.").
There are 1,000 little examples and a slew of people tracking and targeting Bush's "blue-dog" Democrats.
Third, and last, don't forget that 45% of the nation is still willing to vote ... GOP. That's almost one in two, who are so headlocked that they are willing to put a political party that has failed on almost every metric imaginable over the past eight years, in spades, back in a leadership role!
The best thing that could happen to Conservatism is that it could fracture, putting pressure on Liberalism to do the same. The worst thing going in America is the two-party system. It's turned inimical to accountability and excellence, and, despite increased transparency in governance, is still smothering what little democracy there is left in America.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Who cares about Conservatism?
