'08: WHAT, NO CONSERVATIVES? (George Will Still Brain Dead)

NY Post ^ | March 8, 2007 | George Will

[Dominic Harr]

Crap on any one of those groups, and your chance of winning drops.

Exactly.

We all in the past have agreed to work for the political issues we agree on, and avoid the social issues we disagree on.

If that changes, if one of the groups changes this agreement, then we're doomed.

[saveliberty]

Bwhahaha

case= race

I need a vacation

[Jeff Chandler]

Rudy ... known for speaking what he really means,

That's a good sign. I'm holding out for a solidly conservative candidate, but if I have to settle for less, I want to know if I'm being played.

[colorado tanker]

From what I've seen on FR the last couple of months, conservatives will be so divided and angry in 2008, it's a forgone conclusion the Dems will win. Hope everyone enjoys the "lesson."

[stop_fascism]

It worked for Lincoln and Polk.

[Dominic Harr]

That's a good sign. I'm holding out for a solidly conservative candidate, but if I have to settle for less, I want to know if I'm being played.

Oh, he will play us. :-) He's a politician.

I don't believe Rudy is the second coming of RR. He's just a man who has a proven track record of being tough, and being a good govt manager.

We could do better. But we could do much worse.

[TNCMAXQ]

I disagree with Will that the mood at CPAC was morose. I think it was fairly upbeat and most speakers encouraged the activists to remain on offense. We are realists, but there is not reason to be defeatists.

I felt a bit out of place among all those college kids. But it sure looked to me as if the young people at the conference were quite enthusiastic. That's a good sign.

[presidio9]

Your theory is off the charts wishful thinking.

It is not 1980.

Would you mind toning it down a bit? You attitude is uncalled for. Thanks so much. What makes you say that Santorum couldn't win the nomination? His name is at least as nationally recognizable as Gingrich's or Romney's.

[Hildy]

If you're waiting for a guy who could win but is not running, the candidate is Santorum. If you're looking for a guy who could win and will run, the answer is Gingrich.

This kind of post makes me truly believe that Conseratism has truly gone over the edge. Let me take your points one by one...Santorum and INCUMBANT who lost by a mile in his own state, but according to you he could win nationally. OK. Gingrich, a man who allowed the press to destroy him and had to step down because of his winning personality and world class ego can win. I think you old world Conservatives had better start living in the real world or else you are going to be very, very depressed for the next 10 years or so.

Pick your most important issues and go with that. It's the best you can hope for.

[Biblebelter]

Conservatism comes in many flavors. None seems perfect for every conservative's palate; most should be satisfactory to most conservatives.

Georgie boy if that were true, I could hack you, but it ain't, and I can't.

[Jeff Chandler]

It's WAY too early to decide, and when I'm told, "Buy now or this offer expires" I walk away.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Damn, you just love screwing with them, huh?

[Reagan Man]

George Will's infatuation with Rudy Giuliani's candidacy shows a callous desire to throw conservatism overboard in favor of a more progressive approach to GOP politics. From his recent rants, appears Will is slowly morphing into a Rockefeller Republican. A tendency he's shown off and on for many years.

First, that some of the social issues have gone off the boil because argument about them seems sterile: Democrats have scant interest in federal gun-control legislation; scientific advances may obviate the need for using stem cells; cultural changes will do more than any feasible legislation can do to reduce abortion numbers; the way to change abortion law is to change courts by means of judicial nominations of the sort Giuliani promises to make.

These issues remain just as important to most conservatives today, as they have for the last 30 years. George Will is shilling for Giuliani big time. I'd call that brain dead.

[sitetest]

"The perfect is the enemy of the good."

One should certainly not make the perfect the enemy of the good (say, a non-existent Ronald Reagan figure in 2000 vs. the actually existing George W. Bush).

However, one must make the very good, or the good, or even the marginally acceptable, the enemy of the awful (any number of other Republican candidates vs. Rudolph Giuliani).

[Taichi]

I don't want to sound like I'm campaigning here but God I pray Fred Thompson enters the race.

[presidio9]

I think I need a 12-step program.

[colorado tanker]

If you followed the flame wars over Bush and the congressional Republicans leading up to 2006 you could see what was coming. What I see today, with constant flames and hit pieces attacking all the Republican front runners, feels even worse. I hope I'm wrong, and we have a year to go to get our act together, but this feels really bad to me right now.

[presidio9]

Pick your most important issues and go with that. It's the best you can hope for.

You have been here long enough to know that it is a good idea to RTFT before pontificating. Find my response and comment on it if you like.

[proudpapa]

I could easily support a Hunter-Thompson Ticket.

[mnehring]

I like Newt and Hunter, however, they both fit in the preach to the choir standard.. IMHO, both lack the charisma & marketability to sell conservatism outside the choir. .this was Reagan's big strength.. I don't believe either Newt or Hunter can effectively market conservatism to the masses.. we need a true conservative who also is marketable and charismatic.