Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Narrative [Andrew Stuttaford]
Kathryn, when it comes to rallying cries, "the narrative" does indeed rank a touch lower than "remember the Alamo." Nevertheless, I'm struck by how, to use an old Marxist term, a variant of "revolutionary defeatism" appears to be emerging within some sectors of the right. Under some circumstances, Lenin was indeed correct, the worse was the better. Thus using this logic, an Obama presidency ("the worse") would be "the better" because it would both rally the conservative troops, and by reproducing the errors, say, of Clinton 1992-4 or the whole miserable Carter saga, create an opening for a revived conservatism. Sometimes, however, the worse is just worse. That, I think, is the danger here. I would not be at all surprised if the Obama presidency proved to be a policy disaster, but a political success. Put another way (and borrowing an idea that Mark Steyn lobbed my way some months ago) he might be a sort-of-Blair.
When it comes to social conservatism, "the narrative" ("social conservatism is a loser") is, as you point out, simple, but the truth is not. In fact, social conservatism can often be a winner (more than I'd like sometimes, but that's another debate). Although there are substantial regional, demographic and generational differences, this country is, I suspect and very broadly speaking, much more socially conservative than is often presumed. That said, and to continue the wild generalizations, it also likes to think of itself, accurately or not, as a pretty tolerant place. If McCain wants to win he is, I reckon, going to have to appeal to both sides of that equation. That won't be an easy task.
05/15 10:25 PM
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