David Frum has an interesting post at National Review Online regarding his simmering feud with Rush Limbaugh. Call it the new conservatives vs. the old conservatives argument.
What I am writing and thinking about – and also Bill, and David, and Alex Castellanos (about whom Rush also had some harsh words recently), and Tom Davis, and Newt Gingrich, and almost every Republican candidate in the country – is how to win, win in a new era in which the themes and issues with which Rush and I grew up are receding deeper and deeper into history. And not just win politically, but win substantively too – to deliver better results to American voters than they have had over the past 8 years.
I tend to agree with Frum that the Republican party has become stale and staid, which is part of the reason they are likely to lose big in November. Conservative principles of lower taxes, smaller government, support for the military and individual rights are great, but the coming generations have a different expectation from government than in the past. Whether we like it or not, the American electorate wants smaller government but, somehow, government that fixes everything for them. I'm not suggesting that we need government to give every American a free pedicure, but, like it or not, Republicans need to start looking for new ideas to fix the problems facing our nation.
It's not enough to deny the existence of various problems, such as peak oil. Most Americans would like to have more environmentally friendly alternatives to the energy sources we currently use. Not just because gas is around four bucks a gallon, but because they hate the pollution or are concerned about long-lasting effects of our petroleum use. Republicans have argued that they want "alternatives," but they rarely bring forth any legislation other than the kinds that call for more drilling here or there. And, frankly, that's the same old Republican approach to lots of issues they say they are concerned about: lots of the same old legislation, no new ideas.
Limbaugh is frustrated because conservatism is changing and he isn't. But he should remember that all those "Rush babies" want conservatism that fits the present, not the 1980s.
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