Waiting for Reagan
EDITORIAL Waiting for Reagan Conservative editorialists, radio hosts, and bloggers are unhappy. They don’t like the Republican presidential fi eld, and many of them have been heaping opprobrium...
...For example: John McCain—with a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 82.3—is allegedly in no way a conservative...
...Conservatives will fi nd things to like and dislike, to trust and distrust, in each of the candidates...
...He’s a man of considerable accomplishments, respected by many who have worked with and for him in various endeavors...
...And, though the most favorably viewed of all the candidates right now, both among Republicans and the electorate as a whole, he would allegedly destroy the Republican party if nominated...
...One could go on...
...Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and George W. Bush are typical...
...But they’re not Reagans...
...Yet he is supposedly a buffoon and political na?f...
...But he, too, we’re told, is deserving of no respect...
...All advanced the liberal cause while in offi ce...
...So conservatives might think of John McCain as our potential TR, Mike Huckabee as our potential FDR, and Mitt Romney as our potential JFK...
...So the conservative commentariat should take a deep breath, be a bit less judgmental about these individuals— and realize that there is not likely to be a second Reagan...
...What it means to be a serious, successful, and mature political movement is to take men like these—one might say to take advantage of men like these—in order to advance one’s principles and cause...
...Liberalism was the most successful American political movement of the fi rst two-thirds of the 20th century...
...And if there is no clear-cut winner, then the delegates at the GOP convention can turn on the fi fth ballot to an obvious fallback compromise candidate, one who would be just fi ne with conservatives—Dick Cheney...
...And it’s true the Republican candidates are not unproblematic...
...This is exceedingly unusual...
...All of this is fi ne...
...They can advance the cause of a movement that works with them and through them...
...Reagan gave “The Speech” in October 1964, inherited the leadership of the conservative movement after Goldwater’s loss, defeated a moderate establishment Republican two years later to win the GOP nomination for governor of California, and then defeated the Democratic incumbent...
...It’s foolish to wait for another Ronald Reagan...
...They don’t like the Republican presidential fi eld, and many of them have been heaping opprobrium on the various GOP candidates with astonishing vigor...
...William Kristol...
...And one could argue that a primary process featuring debate and competition is also fi ne, that it is healthier than a coronation, and that the party nominee could well emerge stronger from the process...
...But they are so far performing more credibly than much of the conservative commentariat...
...None was a standard-bearer for liberalism before becoming president—though each was inclined in a more or less progressive direction...
...He was a conservative fi rst and a politician second, a National Review and Human Events reader fi rst and an elected offi cial second...
...He’s come from an asterisk to second in the national GOP polls with no money and no establishment support...
...He’s been staunchly prolife and pro-gun and is consistently supported by the most conservative primary voters—but he is, we’re told, no conservative either...
...Or Mitt Romney...
...Support the one you prefer...
...He remained in a sense the leader of conservatives nationally while serving two terms as governor, ran unsuccessfully against Gerald Ford in 1976, and won the presidency in 1980...
...He took conservative positions on social issues as governor of Massachusetts, and parlayed a one-term governorship of a blue state into a fi rsttier position in the Republican race...
...Let the best man emerge from a challenging primary process...
...But don’t work yourself into a frenzy against the others...
...But not just because his political gifts are rare...
...Beyond the normal human frailties that affect all of us, including undoubtedly the commentators at this journal, there is one error that is distorting much conservative discussion of the presidential race...
...There’s a particular way in which Reagan was exceptional that many of us fail to appreciate: He was the only president of the last century who came to the offi ce as the leader of an ideological movement...
...And though he’s embraced conservative policies and seems likely to be steadfast in pursuing them—he’s no conservative either...
...He was a well-regarded and successful governor of Arkansas, reelected twice, the second time with 40 percent of the black vote...
...This year’s GOP fi eld is, in this sense, normal...
...They can be good nominees and effective presidents...
...They could also learn from liberalism’s history...
...Its three iconic presidents were Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and John Kennedy...
...Or take Mike Huckabee...
...It’s Reagan nostalgia...
...The normal American president is a politician, with semicoherent ideological views, who sometimes becomes a vehicle for an ideological movement...
Vol. 13 • January 2008 • No. 19
