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May 8, 2008
'What's Wrong with Republicanns?'
Victor Davis Hanson asks the question why Republicans are depressed going into the 2008 campaign.
His solution is to stand up for conservativism on some key issues:
And Hanson has a cautionary note for McCain: "Moving toward a lite version of the Obamian/European "bipartisan"and socialist view of government and calling it a new conservatism is a prescription for utter disaster."
Instead, Hanson asks McCain to embrace conservative principles and articulate them during the campaign. Good advice - but probably the wrong candidate to give it to.
His solution is to stand up for conservativism on some key issues:
E.g., Gas Prices? More nuclear power, hydro-, refineries, clean coal, drilling off coasts and in ANWR. And why? As a necessary bridge to next-generation cleaner and non-petroleum energy so that in the time lag, we don't empower our enemies, demand that others abroad who are less environmentally sound produce the oil we consume, and watch our hard-won way of life decline.VDH also points to framing the national security debate in more realistic terms and not tolerating ethics violators.
Taxes? Not hikes, since revenues went up, not down with past cuts, but more fiscal discipline to end the deficits. The problem was not tax-cutting, but wild-eyed spending that ran up debt and discredited tax cuts.
The border? Close it, not out nativism or racism, but out of respect for the rule of law, the tradition of national sovereignty, the need to promote integration and assimilation, the need to be more concerned with American entry-level low-paid workers, and a desire to help Mexico wean itself off remittances and make the tough-love decisions to modernize its archaic government and economy.
Judges? We need constitutionalists, because they alone follow the rules of the legislative branch and what is written in the Constitution, do not turn rarified, laboratory theory into the law that millions must suffer under, and bring respect to the judiciary sorely damaged by aristocratic elitists on the bench.
And Hanson has a cautionary note for McCain: "Moving toward a lite version of the Obamian/European "bipartisan"and socialist view of government and calling it a new conservatism is a prescription for utter disaster."
Instead, Hanson asks McCain to embrace conservative principles and articulate them during the campaign. Good advice - but probably the wrong candidate to give it to.