How W Remade the Conservative Movement
John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, in the WSJ (Oct. 28, 2004):
http://www.opinionjournal.com/ac/?id=110005811
We still have to wait another few days to discover whether George W. Bush will stay in the White House. But we already know that his presidency has been momentous--two terms rolled into one, by any decent reckoning. He has not only transformed American policy. He has also transformed American conservatism.
Mr. Bush's critics like to accuse him of taking partisanship to new depths--of governing solely on behalf of the 40% of Americans who call themselves "conservative." An exaggeration, perhaps. But there is no doubt that he has taken the old injunction about "dancing with the one that brung you" to heart. No Republican president has devoted so much attention to this "right nation" within America. And no president has delivered so much red meat to the various factions within the conservative coalition.
Yet Mr. Bush has done more than just pay court to the right. He has actively changed it. The past four years have arguably brought more dramatic changes to conservative America than to America as a whole--to the way that it thinks and is organized, and to the ranking of the groups within it. The right has been in the driving seat, but it has not been a comfortable ride.
The most surprising change has been the rise of "big government conservatism." Ever since the Goldwater campaign of 1963-64, conservatism has defined itself as an antigovernment creed. Barry Goldwater proclaimed that he had little interest in reforming government, "for I mean to reduce its size." Ronald Reagan proclaimed that "government is the problem, not the solution." The Republican Class of '94 believed that "government is dumb while markets are smart" (to borrow a phrase from Dick Armey)--and set about balancing the budget and cutting popular government programs.
But Mr. Bush has been different: an avowed conservative who is nevertheless willing to embrace big government. The massive growth in the state during this presidency (faster than under Bill Clinton, even if you exclude the spending on the war on terror) owes a fair amount to opportunism--to Mr. Bush's willingness to pay off friends in the business world or a refusal to pick a fight with allies in GOP-controlled Congress (he has not wielded his veto pen once). But at its heart it is a deliberate strategy. He came to office planning to expand the Department of Education (an institution the Gingrichistas had planned to abolish). And he laced his acceptance speech at the GOP convention with promises to use government to improve people's lives.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/ac/?id=110005811
We still have to wait another few days to discover whether George W. Bush will stay in the White House. But we already know that his presidency has been momentous--two terms rolled into one, by any decent reckoning. He has not only transformed American policy. He has also transformed American conservatism.
Mr. Bush's critics like to accuse him of taking partisanship to new depths--of governing solely on behalf of the 40% of Americans who call themselves "conservative." An exaggeration, perhaps. But there is no doubt that he has taken the old injunction about "dancing with the one that brung you" to heart. No Republican president has devoted so much attention to this "right nation" within America. And no president has delivered so much red meat to the various factions within the conservative coalition.
Yet Mr. Bush has done more than just pay court to the right. He has actively changed it. The past four years have arguably brought more dramatic changes to conservative America than to America as a whole--to the way that it thinks and is organized, and to the ranking of the groups within it. The right has been in the driving seat, but it has not been a comfortable ride.
The most surprising change has been the rise of "big government conservatism." Ever since the Goldwater campaign of 1963-64, conservatism has defined itself as an antigovernment creed. Barry Goldwater proclaimed that he had little interest in reforming government, "for I mean to reduce its size." Ronald Reagan proclaimed that "government is the problem, not the solution." The Republican Class of '94 believed that "government is dumb while markets are smart" (to borrow a phrase from Dick Armey)--and set about balancing the budget and cutting popular government programs.
But Mr. Bush has been different: an avowed conservative who is nevertheless willing to embrace big government. The massive growth in the state during this presidency (faster than under Bill Clinton, even if you exclude the spending on the war on terror) owes a fair amount to opportunism--to Mr. Bush's willingness to pay off friends in the business world or a refusal to pick a fight with allies in GOP-controlled Congress (he has not wielded his veto pen once). But at its heart it is a deliberate strategy. He came to office planning to expand the Department of Education (an institution the Gingrichistas had planned to abolish). And he laced his acceptance speech at the GOP convention with promises to use government to improve people's lives.