Conservatism
Here’s Republican pollster Frank Luntz, as quoted by syndicated columnist Robert Novak (via Townhall, h/t Instapundit)…“The Republican message machine is a skeleton of its former self,” Luntz told me. “These people have no idea how the American people react to them.” Luntz sees a disconnect between Republicans and voters that projects a grim future for…
It was clear to me that in his piece on “Civic Conservatism” that Fonte was emphasizing civic conservatism (or American Patriotism or American Nationalism) as a “glue” that both holds the various types of conservatism together and can serve as an appealing ideological template with which to sway many independent or (ironically) non-ideological voters. As…
Somewhere in the hazy period Tuesday between leaving work early at lunch time and leaving Hasbro Children’s Hospital around 8:00 p.m., I read John Fonte’s emailed response to Anchor Rising’s commentary on his recent piece about “civic conservatism.” For most of the remainder of that day, the part of my brain not preoccupied with other…
The first speaker at the NRI Conservative Summit this past weekend was former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. The former Speaker offered a challenging take on the state of conservatism… Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich: Always talk personally first, historically second, and politically last. This is the number one problem with the…
Marc notes the latest in modified conservatism, put forward by the Hudson Institute’s John Fonte (director of the institute’s Center for American Common Culture). The piece strikes me — to be honest — as the latest parry in the somewhat ridiculous battle over conservatism that the Republicans’ ineptitude has ussured in — the latest attempt…
Marc’s previous post on “civic conservatism” prompts me to give my report on the national-state of another conservative brand, “compassionate conservatism”. It’s finished as a political label, but it’s rooted in better ideas than you might think. At the NRI Conservative Summit, Professor Marvin Olasky, the individual probably most responsible for bringing the term “compassionate…
John Fonte at NRO: I am a civic conservative, a “civ-con.” At the level of highest principle civic conservatism emphasizes the Unum in E Pluribus Unum and puts American national cohesion over any group interest. The intellectual origins of civic conservatism can be traced to George Washington’s Farewell Address. Citizens by birth or choice, of…
I know. I’m not supposed to be posting anything on the 2008 Presidential campaign before June. However, I’m adding a codicil to my New Year’s resolution: I can make an exception when able to present primary-source material about a Presidential candidate (or someone with a Presidential exploratory committee) that adds to a discussion area already…
Nathan Smith at TCS daily offers this contrast between how President Bush and Sen. Jim Webb view the poverty question: President Bush has proposed an array of policies that confront different aspects of real deprivation as experienced by the poor here and abroad: bad education, lack of legal status and fear of deportation, lack of…
Using this site’s readers as a surrogate for conservatives, commenter “Klaus” put forth this question about the meaning of conservatism…My understanding is that the denizens of this site generally advocate low taxes, little or no gov’t regulation of industry/commerce, and are opposed to any sense of redistribution of wealth. Is that a fair and accurate…
