Worst of all, John McCain has no real idea why he should be president. He knows that he has grueling contempt for his opponent. He knows, intuitively, that he is a better, more tested man. But when it comes to specific policies and solutions he is intellectually, philosophically, and politically vacuous.
In that he is a perfect reflection of conservatism in America today.
Today’s conservatism is lost. It is so lost it doesn’t actually know if it is lost at sea, lost in space, or lost in a desert. It lacks moral courage, a philosophical core, and intellectual certitude. McCain’s defeat will help change all of that because his defeat will lead to a debate within conservatism unlike anything in several decades.
David Brooks of The New York Times has been saying similar things about John McCain...
No, what disappoints me about the McCain campaign is it has no central argument. I had hoped that he would create a grand narrative explaining how the United States is fundamentally unprepared for the 21st century and how McCain’s worldview is different.
McCain has not made that sort of all-encompassing argument, so his proposals don’t add up to more than the sum of their parts. Without a groundbreaking argument about why he is different, he’s had to rely on tactical gimmicks to stay afloat. He has no frame to organize his response when financial and other crises pop up.
He has no overarching argument in part because of his Senate training and the tendency to take issues on one at a time — in part, because of the foolish decision to run a traditional right-left campaign against Obama and, in part, because McCain has never really resolved the contradiction between the Barry Goldwater and Teddy Roosevelt sides of his worldview. One day he’s a small-government Western conservative; the next he’s a Bull Moose progressive. The two don’t add up — as we’ve seen in his uneven reaction to the financial crisis.
...about GOP House members...
Now they have once again confused talk radio with reality. If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they’ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.
I’ve spoken with several House Republicans over the past few days and most admirably believe in free-market principles. What’s sad is that they still think it’s 1984. They still think the biggest threat comes from socialism and Walter Mondale liberalism. They seem not to have noticed how global capital flows have transformed our political economy.
...and about Sarah Palin.
[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party...Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices.
All of this is reminiscent of a conversation I recently had with a Republican friend who said that both parties periodically need new blood (both politicians and ideas) and that it seems to require "burning the house to the ground" to stimulate the cycle of renewal. Here's hoping that if the GOP loses big next month--as it looks like they will--we will see the end of this belligerant denial of reality.
--Ballard Burgher
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