If there is anyone currently in the U.S. Senate of whom I would consider myself a fan, Jim DeMint of South Carolina would be on that short list. I understood where he was coming from but found it a little disconcerting when he said: "I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don't have a set of beliefs." What a great relief then to see Senator DeMint's excellent column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal -- what I consider an opportunity to revise and extend his remark. His rhetoric is blunt, and his analysis is clear: … [Read more...]
Reasonable, Principled Compromise Needed to Rebuild GOP Coalition
Lately I've struggled for the time and energy to put together some coherent thoughts about what the GOP needs to do to rebuild. Jim Manzi at The Corner said it almost perfectly for me. You need to read the whole post, but here is a key excerpt:While it is always possible to imagine some arbitrary configuration of 51% of voters who have the label “conservativeâ€, Rod’s point [ed: that "no conservative movement that hopes to be successful can do so without religious conservatives"] strikes me as correct as a practical matter. Further, more important than the question of electoral advantage, is the fact that tens of millions of citizens have deeply held beliefs that should be considered in making and enforcing the law. I also believe … [Read more...]