The American Spectator's Bob Tyrrell thinks last month's election returns are a harbinger of the future. That is, the results signal that the Democrats will soon be out of power altogether and will remain so for at least a generation. While I certainly hope he's correct, I'm not so sure.
Among the evidence he marshals to make the point is that, when asked, Americans consistently self-identify as conservatives rather than liberals at a 40% to 20% rate. "Consistently" here means that this number has held more or less steady for about 25-30 years.
As this is an inarguably huge difference, why hasn't it redounded to the Republican's perennial benefit? Why have national elections remained so stubbornly close? How did the Dems win the White House in '92, '96, and '08? The Congress in 2006?
Could it be because the ideological position of the Republican candidate is not always undeniably conservative? And might that be because the Republican Party is not actually run by conservatives? Or, if it is run by conservatives, might those conservatives lack the courage of their convictions? And could that lack of courage mean they reflexively favor the more moderate candidate and, in any case, counsel all candidates to temporize and assume a more moderate pose?
I'm just asking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment