David Frum has a compelling blog post at FrumForum today entitled, “Can Conservatives Govern?” He is basically contending with idea that has floated around in some circles that the government should have done nothing as the financial system was crashing around last year. Frum notes that while we may quibble with how tools such as TARP were used, government action was necessary to avert a Second Great Depression.
Andrew Sullivan and Marc Ambinder detail a move by the Charleston GOP to censure South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham for basically straying from “conservative principles.” His lists of sins include the following:
Whereas, U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (SC) and John Kerry (MA) have called for a bipartisan bill dealing with “climate change” via a “Cap & Trade” energy bill;
Whereas, the basis of Cap & Trade – global warming caused by carbon emissions – is still in doubt as evidenced by the past decade of cooling temperatures;
Whereas, the people of South Carolina can ill afford the job-killing Cap & Trade bill’s ripple effects on our state’s economy and on personal energy bills;
Whereas, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham supported TARP and has shown a willingness to discuss nationalizing U.S. banking institutions;
Whereas, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has shown a condescending attitude toward his constituents by calling them “bigots” when they oppose his stance on amnesty for illegal aliens;
Whereas, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has stated on many occasions that his primary concern is to “be relevant”;
Whereas, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham continues to hold the Republican Party hostage and undermines Republican leadership and party solidarity for his own benefit by joining the “Gang of 10″ and the “Gang of 14″;
Whereas, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham – in the name of bipartisanship – continues to weaken the Republican brand and tarnish the ideals of freedom, rule of law, and fiscal conservatism.
Therefore, let it be resolved: The Charleston County Republican Party Executive Committee respectfully requests, with sincere sadness that the South Carolina Republican Party withdraw their resolution commending U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and that the Charleston Country Republican Party censure U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham for many of the positions he has taken that do not represent the wishes of the people of South Carolina, such as: passing a “Cap & Trade” energy bill, bailing out banks, and granting amnesty for illegal aliens.
Then there was a the Politico story where former GOP congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava believes the current GOP lacks “substance:”
Dede Scozzafava, the Republican congressional nominee who dropped out of New York’s special election last week to endorse Democrat Bill Owens, said Wednesday night that the GOP is “really not based on any sort of substance.â€Â
Speaking with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Scozzafava warned Republicans that “you have ideology that’s really not based on any sort of substance that can move an agenda forward, that can really help people in this country.â€Â
“I don’t think it’s good for the health of our party. Any party that just tries to purge members that might have any sort of independent thinking, I think, eventually will run itself to very much of a minority status,†she continued. “I think any sort of party has to be willing to solve the problems. And in order to solve problems, you have to look at things sometimes differently. And you do have to drive towards some sort of consensus building.â€Â
After seeing all of these stories in one day, I am left not with David Frum’s question. Instead I am left with a far more distrubing question:
Do Conservatives want to govern?
I tend to believe the answer right now is no. To govern means to have ideas that can impact people’s lives. But the GOP is devoid of such ideas and seems perfectly fine in not wanting to devise any. People like Scozzafava and Graham are problem-solvers, which means that at times they will deal with Democrats. Normal people see this as part of the legislative process: we work with other people we might not agree with to gain consensus and get work done.
But when the prevailing mood in a party that working with the other party is akin to making a pact with Satan, you have party that really isn’t that interested in actually governing.
In a post last summer, I talked about how “lifestyle conservatism” is what rules in the GOP today and might do so for a while:
The problem that Republicans face in the near future is between those who see the GOP as a political party, and those who see it as a lifestyle. My guess is that the lifestyle conservatives will be in charge for sometime. How long, I don’t know. But a lifestyle party isn’t going to be a winning party, able to compete with the Democrats.
But it will be a nice party as the GOP ship sinks.
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100% Amen. Conservative, proud of it, and a bit confused by my 24/7 attack mode compatriots that appear to have confused anarchism with conservatism.
You ask a great rhetorical question: Do Conservatives want to govern? I believe that the answer is a resounding no. The whole premise of the argument for many of those on the right is that government should have no role in our lives.
These breed of conservative is not worried about how this will impact them when they win again. Winning is not their objective.
This mindset feeds off of a rightwing concept called “starve the beast” which assumes that at some point the federal government will collapse because it can not gather enough taxes to fund its existence. Like the coming of the four horsemen and the apocalypse, the right is waiting for the trumpets to play and for the day of reckoning in which they will be resurrected with a hobbled federal government and power in the hands of communities and states.
“To govern means to have ideas that can impact people’s lives. But the GOP is devoid of such ideas and seems perfectly fine in not wanting to devise any. People like Scozzafava and Graham are problem-solvers, which means that at times they will deal with Democrats. ”
The GOP seeks to impact people lives in a positive way, and they have many ideas to do just that. The Global Climate legislation does nothing positive for anyones life in the U.S. Because the GOP doesn’t support a stupid idea that means they don’t want to govern?
How has TARP positively impacted us? Where are the jobs? Giving a $250 freebie to the elderly doesn’t stimulate an economy, they just save it or spend it on their utility bills. They should have given $250 to my 18yr-old, it would have gone straight to the mall,
If democrats wanted to do something positive, they wouldn’t be writing draconian 1000 and 2000 page measures designed to line the pockets of their powerful supporters, like AIG, United Technologies, Citigroup, and every other bank on Wall St. All the while making the appeal that this is going to “positively impact peoples lives”.
If a backstabbing RINO with a Democratic activist husband and a Senator too stupid to come in from the rain are the future of the moderate Republicans, then the moderates should just go out of business today. Neither one is smart enough to understand that open borders and unlimited immigration means higher taxes, more government, lousy schools, higher crime, and more sprawl.
The moderate Republicans are going to have to come up with something other than jumping everytime the Democrats say jump to demonstrate that they can lead. Having the Democrats lead them around by the nose is definitely not a sign of leadership.
When the moderates have a consistent philosophy of governance, then they can talk about governance. Until then, please shut up.
You talk about backstabbing RINO’s while Palin and company jumped ship first and went off to a Conservative candidate…until you Superdetroyer admit your side’s flagrant hypocrisy and admit they are the real RINOs, shutting up will not be an option