Posted on 08/14/2007 6:12:03 AM PDT by reaganaut1
As a political strategist, Karl Rove offered a brilliant answer to the wrong question.
The question he answered so successfully was a political one: How could Republicans win elections after Bill Clinton steered the Democrats to the center?
The question he unfortunately ignored was a policy question: What does the nation need — and how can conservatives achieve it?
Mr. Rove answered his chosen question by courting carefully selected constituencies with poll-tested promises: tax cuts for traditional conservatives; the No Child Left Behind law for suburban moderates; prescription drugs for anxious seniors; open immigration for Hispanics; faith-based programs for evangelicals and Catholics.
These programs often contradicted each other. How do you cut taxes and also create a big new prescription drug benefit? If the schools are failing to educate the nation’s poor, how does it make sense to expand that population by opening the door to even more low-wage immigration?
Instead of seeking solutions to national problems, “compassionate conservatism” started with slogans and went searching for problems to justify them. To what problem, exactly, was the faith-based initiative a solution?
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Was his fly undone?
How can a private institution be nonpartisan and not for profit? This guy is so partisan left that his article made my toenails curl. How can he even claim to know where the center of politics is when he is shoveling from so far left that anything he throws can't make it back to center. Someday we are going to have to hold elections for this 4th branch of government we refer to as the Main Stream Media, right down the the editors and producers that control what goes to print and on the air. The only centrist thing Bill Clinton ever did was to put a sign in front of himself that stated It's the Economy Stupid" that was a reminder to himself of how stupid the left wing liberals and all of their ideas where. The only thing that made a difference was the economy.
This is a first! I don’t think David Frum has ever been called a Leftist! Frankly, I think he raises some interesting issues which conservatives need to assess.
My bottom line is we need to stand on principles, more like Reagan (most of the time—believe it or not, there were times when even Reagan disappointed us).
As far as David Frum's article, what a hack job on Rove. Just another run of the mill writer wanting to get in on the attacks on a man who has worked very hard for our president.
Who's going to run the government starting in September? Who will tell Bush what to do? I think Rove, in his infinite wisdom, decided it was time to let Bush to go off on his own. Have a great retirement you magnificent bastard.
If you think this boy is bad, you ought to have heard his mama (Barbara Frum, now dead)! She was something else -much worse and much mouthier. SO he has now gone from presidential speech writer to writing for the NYT - courtesy of his mouthy wife. This boy is surrounded!
AND he is most probably resentful that HE got fired for cause by W and Rove retired because he wanted to. Never hire foreigners. Never.
LOL, oh my, the little Frummer boy being thrown under the bus. The hack that wrote some of Bush's most popular (at least around here) speeches. The moron who penned 'Unpatriotic Conservatives' for anyone daring to question the police action in Iraq. The little Frummer being called into question?!? What is 'conservatism' come to?
Perhaps that's the answer. We'll just leave this lot to tear each other apart. Meanwhile conservatives will step in (again) and put everything back together.
Nonsense. Bush has failed conservatives on quite a number of topics and has created serious problems for our country’s future. There are any number of issues to point to. Take the free pills for granny act for example. It’s unconstitutional, is going to have a price tag in the TRILLIONS and thus is going to harm our children and grandchildren tremendously. The responsibility for this monstrosity lies solely at Bush’s desk.
Need I continue? There’s plenty more where that came from. Bush being better than Reagan? Please.
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