Kristol seeks to rally the troops.
Here in Europe, press coverage of the Republican party's fight to choose a presidential candidate has never really got anyone excited. Perhaps it's the feeling that whoever wins the Democratic nomination is almost guaranteed - after eight failed years of neo-conservatism - to walk into the White House.
There's certainly no-one in the race who gets my blood boiling, with even Giuliani - the only candidate with the chance of doing so - simply promising more of the same failed policies and stances which have led the US into her current dead end street, which leads me to suppose that - even if he wins the nomination - the stances he will have to adopt in order to do so almost guarantee that he will lose in any national poll.
It is with this in mind, and with Conservative commentators criticism of the candidates ringing in his ears, that William Kristol has decided to issue his rallying call to the Conservative troops in an article entitled, "Waiting for Reagan".
The Conservative love affair with Ronald Reagan has always puzzled me, but lets leave that aside.
The dearth of candidates to genuinely excite the Conservative base is something that Kristol seeks to gloss over, reminding his readers that many great Presidents did not always appear to have greatness within them before they entered high office:
So the conservative commentariat should take a deep breath, be a bit less judgmental about these individuals--and realize that there is not likely to be a second Reagan. They could also learn from liberalism's history. Liberalism was the most successful American political movement of the first two-thirds of the 20th century. Its three iconic presidents were Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and John Kennedy. All advanced the liberal cause while in office. None was a standard-bearer for liberalism before becoming president--though each was inclined in a more or less progressive direction.It really says something about the quality of the candidates on offer that Kristol is reduced to making such ludicrous comparisons, however, he saves the very best till last with his offer of what to do should the Republicans be unable to choose which of these turkeys it would like to enjoy at Christmas.
What it means to be a serious, successful, and mature political movement is to take men like these--one might say to take advantage of men like these--in order to advance one's principles and cause.
So conservatives might think of John McCain as our potential TR, Mike Huckabee as our potential FDR, and Mitt Romney as our potential JFK. Support the one you prefer. But don't work yourself into a frenzy against the others.
Let the best man emerge from a challenging primary process. And if there is no clear-cut winner, then the delegates at the GOP convention can turn on the fifth ballot to an obvious fallback compromise candidate, one who would be just fine with conservatives--Dick Cheney!Dear God, they really are scraping the barrel when their fallback compromise candidate - and the one that Kristol assures us would be "just fine with conservatives" - is a man with a popularity rating of 18%.
They are in even more trouble than I thought they were.
Click title for Kristol's article.
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