Republicans
May 12, 2013 — Steven Hayward
I dropped by my old haunts at AEI in Washington last week, and stuck my head in Norm Ornstein’s office with the intent of exchanging a few of our ritual jeers and heckles, but he was deep in phone conversation with his bookie or someone. Too bad, as he’s done it again with his National Journal article on “The Myth of Presidential Leadership.” Ornstein writes in a typically clever way
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April 30, 2013 — Steven Hayward
Liberals will never tire of calling conservatives racist, because it’s always a show-stopper, a way of cutting off further debate on any issue where a liberal is likely to lose. So don’t expect it to go away any time soon. (Though why Republicans aren’t better at “punching back twice as hard,” e.g., by pointing out the permanent racist legacy of the Democratic Party, noting the vote tally for the 1964
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April 26, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Jennifer Rubin argues that Ronald Reagan’s mythical status “has become a burden for the modern GOP.” “The old guard,” she says, “has become convinced that Reagan’s solutions to the problems of his time were the essence of conservatism — not simply conservative ideas appropriate for that era.” As a result, Republicans have lost their ability to connect with average Americans at an emotional level. Rubin is sore that, for the
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April 16, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
On Sunday, I wrote about Matt Latimer’s misuse of Margaret Thatcher to further his view that contemporary Republicans are unwilling to entertain and appreciate thoughtful dissent. Today, I want to add a comment about one of the examples of alleged Republican intolerance cited by Latimer. Latimer writes: What a contrast [Thacher and Reagan were] to the so-called conservative GOP that followed them. A few years later, when Buckley questioned the
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April 14, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Matt Latimer, a disillusioned former speechwriter for George W. Bush, claims in the Washington Post that Margaret Thatcher “was for turning after all.” But Latimer fails to point to any specific instance in which Thatcher turned away from a core principle. He comes the closest when he cites Thatcher’s famous statement that Mikhail Gorbachev is someone with whom the West “can do business.” But here Thatcher was simply recognizing, sooner
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April 11, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Returning from a business trip to Washington, D.C., tonight I was delighted to find Senator John Thune waiting to board the 7:15 p.m. flight to Minneapolis-St. Paul at Reagan National Gate 21. As I said hello, Senator Thune could not have been warmer. I asked him about his trip home. If I understand correctly, he said he was going home for the induction of his father, age 93, to the
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April 3, 2013 — Scott Johnson
As far as I am concerned. Mark Sanford’s win over Curtis Bostic in South Carolina’s First Congressional District GOP runoff represents an unanswered prayer. Sanford continues to combine his mastery of therapeutic psychobabble with an ill-fitting Christian overlay that should be a dead giveaway, as Sanford himself all but acknowledged last night. Sanford is, of course, on a journey of discovery — make that a very long journey, involving the
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April 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Republican establishment — or at least the large chunk of it that favors amnesty and a path to citizenship for illegal aliens — must be delighted that the two Republicans said to be the leading candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination both favor amensty and a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. I’m referring, of course, to Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. The establishment’s delight is understandable. But a
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April 2, 2013 — Scott Johnson
We have been remiss in failing to beseech the support of South Carolina’s First District voters for former Charles County councilor and decorated Marine Corps vet Curtis Bostic in today’s primary to nominate the Republican candidate to replace Tim Scott. According to the Washington Post, Sanford is the clear front-runner to defeat Bostic in what is expected to be a low-turnout affair (no pun intended). Sanford is of course the
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March 31, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
As of late last week, an impasse between business and labor over work visas appeared to be all that stood in the way of a Senate bill on comprehensive immigration. And, as we noted, since this dispute pertained only to dollars and cents, not principles, resolution seemed likely. Now, it has occurred. “Labor and business reach deal on immigration issue” reads the headline of this article in the New York
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March 30, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Following the 2012 election, the Republican National Committee commissioned a group of Republicans to study the results of that election and make recommendations as to how the GOP can do better in future cycles. The resulting report, which you can read here, has been roundly criticized by many conservatives, sometimes unfairly, in my view. I wrote about the report’s recommendations on immigration here. But as far as I know, no
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March 29, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that the bipartisan Senate deal on immigration reform is now at risk. At a minimum, the Senate bill may not be unveiled in April, as had been expected. What’s the problem? Have Republicans come to understand that it is wrong to provide a pathway to citizenship for those who, for years, have flouted American law? Has the irrationality of creating 10 million or so underclass voters,
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March 27, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
What is the key to a revival of the Republican Party? In a sense, the question is unfair because it assumes the Party is in need of revival even though it did fantastically well in 2010 and well enough at the state and U.S. House of Representatives level in 2012. Even at the presidential level, the Republican candidate did about as well as the Democrat did in 2004. And John
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March 25, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Michael Walsh at NRO blames the Obama presidency on the Iraq War. Taking things one step further, he blames the Clinton presidency on our first war in Iraq: Like father, like son. The first President Bush squandered sky-high poll ratings into a defeat at the hands of a man the nation barely knew, Bill Clinton, in part because of the unsatisfying end to the first Gulf War, which ended with
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March 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The estimable Noemie Emery chides the “conservative wing” of the GOP for making “excuses, excuses” for the fact that the Republican Party hasn’t been nominating candidates for president more to its liking. The excuse offered is that “The Establishment met at the Country Club on alternate Tuesdays to undermine all the upcoming Reagans.” The reality, says Emery, is this. [A]gainst establishment types who were national figures, the conservative movement flung
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March 21, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Recommendation Number 13 on the Republican Party’s recently released list of demographic outreach priorities is to “Expand our presence on more pop culture oriented outlets to ensure our message is reaching all voters.” A few years ago, I might have scoffed at this recommendation. The electorate, I thought, became serious enough during high presidential election season to make sure it reached the message of presidential candidate’s in traditional ways e.g.,
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March 20, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
During the past twenty years or so, the Republican establishment and the conservative base have operated pursuant to an unwritten accommodation. The Party nominates an establishment candidate who receives the base’s support; the establishment nominee embraces all major positions of the conservative base. Mitt Romney, for example, ran as a down-the-line conservative in 2012. Before he began seriously contemplating a run for the presidency, however, Romney was a moderate on
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