On Face the Nation yesterday, conservative columnist David Brooks was
brutally candid about the Republican Party following their recent losses.
"World of pain," Brooks said. "A generation of pain. 1964, it was so much better than now. In '64, they had a coherent belief system. They lost, they didn't persuade the American people about it, but they understood where they wanted to take the country.
"Now it's just a circular firing squad, with everybody attacking each other, and no coherent belief system, no leaders. You've got half the party waiting for Sarah Palin to come and rescue them. The other half is waiting for Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor, to come rescue them. But no set of beliefs. Really a decayed conservative infrastructure. It's just a world of pain." [...]
"And, fundamentally, the conservative movement failed (and I've been in it my entire life) because it hasn't addressed the problems of today, the rise of China and Russia, the rise of inequality, energy, health care.
Republicans haven't addressed any of the issues that concern voters for
one simple reason:
At this point, though, the party exists to oppose Democratic ideas. That's fine for an opposition force, but for a governing philosophy, it's an obvious sign of bankruptcy.
You can watch video from the show
here.
4 comments:
Brooks is right. I defy anyone to explain in any detail exactly what John McCain was for. Then consider that the activist segment forces the rest of the party into a religious straight jacket that denies evolution and global warming and makes major (losing) political issues out of abortion and stem cell research. They have to kowtow to them, but in doing that it makes them even more out of touch. Plus, of course, the idea of free market conservatism has collapsed completely. I don't know if people trust the government any more than they used to, but they don't trust the market at all.
I think when you embrace anti-intellectualism as political stance, you pretty much lose all the idea people who can lead and end up with the Joe the Plumbers and Sarah Palins who can only parrot.
K, good summary of their failures. What amazes me is that the party believes it has to push those losing issues even harder.
Lew, very true - and scary.
Read on:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/11/AR2008111102257.html?nav=slate
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