Category: The Dish

Vote Dem Or Abstain

That’s my advice, unless you have a truly stellar Republican candidate in your district or state. Here’s a British analogy that suggests it would be good for the GOP as well:

In 1974, Britain’s Conservative Party lost. Disillusioned Tory voters failed to turn out and more than a few, tired of the tired Edward Heath, decided what the hell, and voted Labor.

In the aftermath, small groups of Tories, both in and out of government, sat down and thought. In think tanks, and party clubs, through pamphlets and speeches and arguments and chats over tea, they set out to define what it meant to be a Conservative. The answers – lower taxation, rolling back the state from the private economy, a reassertion of British confidence – brought the Tories four straight wins.

My book is an attempt to do just that. It has no policy prescriptions. It’s an attempt to ask again what the hell conservatism means from first principles. You may well disagree with it. But the conversation is the point. All of us who think or have thought of ourselves on the right need a break from power to figure out what we want power for. We’re lost right now. Terribly, incontrovertibly lost.

People keep asking me on this tour who I think can save conservatism, who I favor for 2008, etc. But that’s the wrong question. Conservatives do not need a savior. They need a coherent governing philosophy. That requires some hard soul-searching, some healthy recriminations, and a debate from first principles. My essential point is that by coopting fundamentalism, conservatism, which has always been at its core the politics of imperfection and doubt, not perfection and certainty, has destroyed itself from within. You may not agree. Great. Let’s debate. But it’s a start.

Quote for the Day

"David Kuo? Who is he? The person at the White House I talk to every week is Tim Goeglein. I know he does not ridicule us," – Paul Weyrich, co-founder with Jerry Falwell of the Christian conservative political movement in the late ’70s.

David never ridiculed them, despite Weyrich’s insinuation. Others in the White House did. David merely told the truth – and David and I will have a blog conversation next week on this blog and his on faith and politics. Whenever someone truly speaks the words of Jesus, these Christianists get rattled, don’t they? As well they should.

Insta-Smear

A reader writes:

While I appreciate and agree with your argument against Glenn Reynolds and his vote, you are missing what is the most important point. When Reynolds decries the ‘Sexual McCarthyism’ of outing on the Democratic side, he is advancing a very misleading point.  One relatively unknown blogger does not the Democrats make. How can you justify voting Republican in Tennessee over what an activist blogger did to an Idaho Senator?  That rationalization boggles the mind.

Agreed. I have yet to hear any actual Democratic official support outing. And I despise the gay "outing" bloggers. Truly. And the feeling is mutual, I can assure you. I’ve been at war with them since the early 1990s, and experienced their homophobia first-hand. But they do not represent even a sliver of Democrats, let alone the vast majority. To say so is an unfair indirect smear of a entire party.

A Friend of Bill

In Chicago, I was driven around by the same guy who drove me around for "Virtually Normal." His name is Bill Young, a real mid-westerner, and an all-round great guy. He has shepherded them all in his time – from Marilyn Quayle to Al Gore. But he means a lot to me. Eleven years ago, he picked me up in Milwaukee, when I resumed my book tour after a five day break in the first week when one of my dearest friends died suddenly of AIDS. He was 31. I tell the story in "Love Undetectable". I was beyond numb.

Bill knew the deal, and basically nursed me through the first few days of media blitz. His Midwestern gentleness and humor put me back on my feet. It was a strange shock to see his name again on the schedule; and a huge pleasure to be with him for a few hours. We swapped jokes, caught up on each others’ lives, and had a ridiculously huge meal at one of the biggest Mickey Ds I’ve ever seen. I had a super-sized Big Mac, fries, regular coke and a chocolate milk shake. He had a McFlurry. Screw it.

Anyway, he has a saying. It’s worth passing on:

"Strive for excellence. Ignore success."

Words to live by. I love the Midwest.