Monday, February 04, 2008

The sun'll not come out tomorrow   [Mark Steyn]

On the eve of Super Duper Tuesday, conservatives in this great republic could do with some pepping up. Instead, this turned up in my in-box:

First, demography is poised to destroy conservatism in a devastating triple threat. The baby boomers will start retiring, and will probably shift a little to the left in the process. Second, Mexican immigrants will most likely end up being pretty leftist. Finally, years of liberals running their own private indoctrination camps through the American education system have finally taken their toll and are churning out reliably liberal kids who will inevitably come of age. Not enough of them are conservatives and not enough of them will be mugged by reality to convert to conservatism. It is ultimately these three factors that threaten to sink conservatism for at least a couple decades.

Gulp. Anything else?

This was conservatives’ last chance... The only chance was for a really good conservative leader to be elected and make a Reaganesque impression on the country that would delay the liberal fate. If Romney is defeated tomorrow, that will not happen, and tomorrow will live in infamy as a monumental defeat for conservatism.

In a less apocalyptic sense, a spell out of power can do a party good if you get the timing right. If memory serves, John O'Sullivan used to argue the British Tories would have done better to lose to Neil Kinnock in 1992 and be out of power for four or five years, rather than to lose to Tony Blair in 1997 and be out of power for 15. (If my recollection is mistaken, I'm sure John will correct me.)

Right now, the two-party system seems to have decayed into a one-and-a-half-party system, with McCain largely in agreement with the Dems on immigration, pharmaceutical companies, global warming and much else. A President McCain will get media bouquets for his bipartisanship in supporting the Democrat domestic agenda. Against that, he is admired in these parts for his stand on the war.

But if this is, as many argue, a "long war", then in a two-party system, don't the Democrats at some point have to take joint ownership of it? Parties don't wage wars, nations do. One could make the case that the war, rather than being the sole overwhelming reason for electing McCain, is actually a compelling reason, given their convergence on domestic issues, why you might as well stick Hill in there. I don't think Mrs Clinton will be so eager to lose the thing once it's on her watch.

Anyway, just a glum thought. I'm now going to sleep in hopes that, when I wake up, it will all be a bad dream and Calvin Coolidge will be ahead in the primaries.  

02/04 11:28 PMShare