Compassionate Conservatism’s Last True Believer
By Dennis Sanders | Related entries in General PoliticsFormer Clinton aide Bruce Reed writes in his regular Has-Been column for Slate about the resignation of Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson and the true end of a strain of conservatism that had higher ends than lower taxes and fretting about Adam and Steve holding hands. Reed notes Gerson was interested in using government and faith to combat national issues like poverty and after a meeting between Clinton and Gerson’s then boss, former Senator Dan Coats of Indiana, there was some hope among Dems that there could be a “kindler, gentler conservatism.”
It didn’t end up that way, and Reed places blame on Karl Rove and the president as well:
I’ve never looked in Bush’s heart, but judging from the way he talks about education or immigrationâ€â€?even without Gerson at the teleprompterâ€â€?there’s enough compassion to have led the country down a different course. The hollowing of compassionate conservatism was a conscious choiceâ€â€?wrong on the merits and even on the politics. Ultimately, Bush decided that the lesson the country tried to teach Republicans in 1995 (do the right thing) paled alongside the lesson he learned from his father’s defeat in 1992 (do the right’s bidding).
Well, read the whole thing. I’m not one who thinks that conservatives can’t be compassionate because I’ve seen it. There are many good conservatives who spend their time tackling poverty, helping those with HIV/AIDS and protecting the environment. I really believe the president has a compassionate side and if he had listened to that instead of Mr. Rove, we might have a different adminstration and maybe, just maybe the GOP wouldn’t be so nervous about losing seats come November.
Reed notes that back in 2000, as Bush and John McCain battled it out for the GOP nod, it was really the Arizona Senator, not the Governor from Texas that was really interested in having the Grand Old Party serve a higher puprose. I wonder if that’s still true today. Even moreso than Bush, McCain really believes that conservatism should mean more than being against gay marriage or spending as “drunken sailors.” You could see touches of that strain of conservatism in his commenncement address to Liberty University. I want to believe that, to paraphrase a line from a now-canceled TV series, that McCain will be McCain and revive and give real meaning to “compassionate conservatism” after all.
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June 16th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
McCain’s idea of conservatism appears to be “no borders, no language, no culture”, meaning he is not conservative at all. I’ve heard that he is pro-life, but the way he sold this country out to immigration and can’t seem to identify the menace of activist judges already plaguing us, I’m wondering how sincere his convictions are. His only strong point with me right now is that he won’t sell us out on Iraq given his family history and his statements. However, I’m hoping no Republican would do that and am thus looking for a decent alternative. Forced to choose between him and some super left-wing nut, I’ll take McCain.
Also, having a Clinton Aide talk about conservatism, Bush, or Rove is laughable. I’m surprised Reed didn’t state the Republicans were responsible for generating hurricane Katrina.
But lets quote him shall we:
“But Gerson’s flourishes turned out to be just grace notes in an otherwise conventional composition. Far from a brave new doctrine, Bushism became merely the second coming of Reaganismâ€â€?tax cuts for the wealthy, photo ops for the poor, favors for narrow interests, and deficits for the rest of us.”
Now here’s a man you can trust to know anything about conservatism, a former Clinton aide, a left-wing Slate writer, and a dyed in the wool liberal who hasn’t studied economics but probably has a degree in it. I’ll hold my breath waiting for a shred of truth to come from this guy regarding this topic. We’d be better off asking Saddam what Democracy is like now that we’ve captured him.