Correspondence
Correspondence CREATIVE DESTRUCTION? I FIND THE PIECE BY William Kristol and David Brooks so disturbing that I must respond ("The Politics of Creative Destruction," March 13). The authors applaud...
...In a recent debate McCain was barely able to articulate an education plan, in stark contrast to George W. Bush's detailed education proposal...
...Above all, I fail to see what the purpose of McCain's "creative destruction" is, save the narrow one of getting McCain elected...
...It was one of McCain's "acceptable" Christian conservatives, Chuck Colson, who admonished McCain for exploiting the traditional divide between Catholics and evangelicals...
...One cannot deny the attractiveness of a war hero carrying the conservative message to the public...
...Is McCain's practice of vilifying all who hold office as mere tools of special interests inspirational patriotism...
...I must take exception, however, to the article he co-authored with David Brooks...
...But just as surely as one does not go down to continual defeat simply to hold on to principle, one does not jettison all principle simply to gain electoral victory...
...Any ammunition Gore has was given him by John McCain pushing Bush right...
...You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet...
...It also explains why much of the Republican rank and file—who by and large detest the Washington press corps—has taken such a strong dislike to McCain...
...Finally, the authors state, "If [Bush] is the nominee, Al Gore will be sure to hang [conservatism's] most inflammatory symbols around his neck...
...Next, Kristol and Brooks argue, "But that is the nature of creative destruction...
...Bush has shown no inclination to rip out any part of the mansion he has inherited, and without that there can be no renovation...
...I fear that many at The Weekly Standard are so taken with John McCain's biography that they are blind to the dangers of his politics, and to the virtues of George W. Bush...
...Destruction induces anxiety before creation can inspire confidence...
...Although I do not disagree with their premise that "creative destruction" is necessary for conservatism to thrive, it is not at all clear that Sen...
...What short memories...
...I want to rally the armies of compassion...
...The exploitation of religion, the vilification of any who disagree, and the generally crude populism of McCain are not ways to inspire people to long-term dedication to a party or a nation...
...Kristol and Brooks also claim that "McCain would redirect a religiously based moral conservatism into a patriotically grounded moral appeal...
...The authors applaud John McCain for proposing "campaign finance reform, education reform, Social Security reform, [and] a campaign against lobbyist-driven pork-barrel spending...
...McCain's Social Security "reform" is simply the dangerous idea of using general revenue funds to hide the structural problems in the program...
...But I cannot see an egotistical senator with a mediocre record and a manifest willingness to savage those in his own party as the cure for what ails the conservative cause...
...The manifest shortcomings of the Republican party in the Dewey-Eisenhower era made the need for the Goldwater-Reagan insurgency obvious, but I fail to see any comparable development in the Republican party of today...
...The "slouching toward Gomorrah" speech...
...It is sometimes reckless...
...Kristol and Brooks may well be correct when they suggest that McCain has better-developed ideas on foreign policy than does Bush, but on other matters of interest to conservatives—economic freedom, "traditional values," and limited, democratic government—McCain seems to be either agnostic or has taken a rhetorical position vaguely siding with those who disagree with us...
...McCain is the appropriate agent to bring such "creative destruction" about...
...His campaign finance reform bill is flagrantly unconstitutional, as your magazine has argued...
...I do not see Republican reversals of recent years as ideological failures, though I would agree with Kristol and Brooks that conservative views are not held by a majority of the electorate...
...This, I fear, is what McCain has done, and the dema-goguery of his campaign is disturbing...
...Remember "balancing the budget on the backs of the poor...
...Cheap demagoguery is acceptable if it is for a good cause...
...You can't change people's lives until you change their hearts...
...The failures of 1992 and 1996 happened because the Republicans waged two of the most inept presidential campaigns of recent history...
...We all are for a civil religion, but one that makes no appeals to a higher power...
...Governor Bush's blunder in going to Bob Jones University is nothing compared with McCain's exploitation of religious differences and then lying to the media about doing it...
...One that is simply a love of country and nothing else...
...JON DAVID SCHAFF Chicago, IL I HAVE BEEN A SUBSCRIBER to THEWEEKLY STANDARD from its inception in 1995, and a longtime admirer of William Kristol's writing...
...All these from the mouth of George W. Bush...
...This largely explains the favorable treatment McCain receives from such unlikely sources as Al Hunt of the Wall Street Journal...
...Finally, as long as congressmen need to get elected there will be pork-barrel spending...
...How about this for moral appeal: "Prosperity without purpose is simple materialism...
...The failure of 1998 was largely a failure of nerve, compounded by indecision...
...And no inclination to rip out any part of the mansion...
...EDWARD N. FINGLAS Marbkhead, MA...
...At the core of the McCain candidacy is the cynical calculation that if a conservative Republican can neutralize the chattering classes, he can win...
Vol. 5 • March 2000 • No. 26
