The Neocons & Nixon's Southern Strategy ( Pat Buchanan slams Kristol )

washingtondispatch ^ | 12/29/2002 | Pat Buchanan

[Pelham]

Neocons largely began with the defection of the Scoop Jackson "Cold War Democrats" to the Republican Party and Ronald Reagan in particular. Although liberal on many domestic issues (as Nixon often was, for that matter), neocons considered a tough foreign policy against the Soviet Union to be more important than supporting their Democrat Party.

With the end of the Cold War in this unifying theme in the "conservative" coalition ended, too, and underlying disagreements over some first principles are splitting the coalition that formed around Ronald Reagan.

[Jhoffa_]

..and underlying disagreements over some first principles are splitting the coalition that formed around Ronald Reagan.

With good reason, imo.

The two groups are diametrically opposed on many issues. I welcome these splits.

[Pelham]

Read a few issues of Chronicles magazine to get an idea of paleo thought. National Review used to publish some of those writers years ago, but they've all either left or been purged in the Cultural Revolution over there.

Paleo thought can also be found in the writings of Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, Mel Bradford, among others.

[Pelham]

Still paleoconservatives tend to disturb me and they tend to label anyone who does not accept their white supremicist doctrine as "neocons", which for many of them is a code word for J-E-W-S and their allies.

Sure, and that's why Paul Gottfried is one of the more prominent paleocon writers. But thanks for providing us with such a stellar example of neocon bigotry.

[Pelham]

Me too. It's interesting to note how loathe many prominent conservatives have been about discussing these differences. It hasn't been in their interest to air the debate, it might lessen their influence.

[BradyLS]

In my opinion, conservatives in the Republican party, are used in exactly the same manner as Blacks are used in the Dem.

Sadly, you're right.

[BradyLS]

To gain loyalty, you have to show loyalty, and that is something which the GOP leadership has never done; in fact, Reagan's presidency can now be seen as nothing more than a brief interruption between the rule of the usual GOP hierarchy and their pet establishment types.

Thus the whole Bob Dole "My Turn" campaign of '96. Excellebt observation.

[John Lenin]

Not that I like Pat but he makes an excellent point here. The GOP always lets itself get slammed by the left, this time with the help of Kristol, who I am not so sure is a true GOP'r or even a conservative.

[aristeides]

There's a new book by Paul Gottfried that looks very interesting: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Guilt: Toward a Secular Theocracy. I intend to order it after I get back from travelling over the holidays.

As long as we're speaking about Jewish paleocons, I just read a piece by Gottfried that says the author who most influenced him was Murray Rothbard. Rothbard started out as a libertarian, but his views eventually became highly paleocon. And, if I am not mistaken, he too was Jewish.

[BillyBoy]

>> And where were the necons, when Goldwaterites and Nixonites were building the New Majority? Going all the way with LBJ <<

That's funny Pat. I know you were a minor Nixon player but your 2000 "3rd party" candidacy seemed a hell of a lot more like George Wallace '68 than Richard Nixon '68.

Nixon was from the ol' school "anti-communist" wing of the party that appealed to middle America and was made up of northern conservatives like himself and McCarthy in the 50s. Wallace, on the other hand, was an traditional southern Dixiecrat who pandered to unions and blue-coller workers (in both the north and south) while trying to get social consevative votes. I seem to recall which demographic you were looking for. Unfortunately for you, the ol' southern "Conservative Democrat" was dying off by the time of your candidacy, hence you got 0.4% with your "base".

The Pat Buchanan of 1968 helped elect Nixon, but the Pat Buchanan of 2000 would undoubtly been in George "vote Carter '76" Wallace's corner.

[BradyLS]

Excellebt = Excellent. (D'oh!!!)

[Credo]

I'm not a fan of either Buchanan or Kristol. Both like different forms of Big Government. In this article, I think Buchanan is correct. Southerners left the Democratic Party because it was perceived (and in my opinion is) as anti-American and anti-defense. Nixon was successful in drawing those distinctions. Look at the election of '72. McGovern was regarded as an anti-American freak and was trounced.

The only way Democrat presidential candidates have won Southern electoral votes is by being Southerners and masking their anti-American proclivities, i.e. Carter & Clinton. In 76, Carter won every single Southern State except VA. In 80, he lost every one but GA. Bubba diluted Bush Sr's Southern electoral strength and the same with Dole. Gore was rightly perceived as a faux Southerner and lost every Southern State, including his "home" state.

Remember Kristol was advising Dan Quayle & Bush Sr. in the 92 election.

Some comments on Nixon specifically. Nixon was more liberal socially and domestically. He picked Harry Blackmum who authored the infamous Roe V. Wade decision. He instituted wage & price controls and did some other things that compromised his conservative credentials. Then again he never had a Republican Congress to work with. Buchanan, I'm pretty sure thinks he had more influence on the GOP Presidents he served than he actually did. To give him credit, I think he came up with the "nittering nabobs of negativism" line for Agnew.

I forgot where I read this once. Essentially Nixon had no reason to think he was going to lose the '72 election to McGovern. If Nixon had disbursed campaign funds down to the congressional election rather than hogging them to acheive an electoral landslide, the Senate might have turned Republican. That would have meant no Sam Ervin.

As far as Lott. My problems with him began almost as soon as he became Majority Leader. He seemed to continuously get outfoxed by Daschle and the impeachment handling etc. convinced me the GOP was ill served by Lott as leader. That was long before the birthday gaffe. The gaffe was all the more perplexing to me because there was so much more Lott could have used to honor about Thurmond's life. His quixotic '48 election bid was not something I would use to commemorate him.

Kristol's support of McCain is all I need to know about Kristol. Everything I hear from him goes through that filter.

[Russ7]

PAT'S right again.

The sword of truth is mighty sharp.

[iconoclast]

Neocons are the ones who came up with every good idea for the past decade: privatization of Social Security, tax cuts, school vouchers, privitization of government services when logical,

These things get more talk-talk than implementation .. not unlike the bones that the other party throws to their salivating constituencies from the political stump. Meantime government grows and grows.

More importantly, foreign adventure dreams grow even more monstrously. We have departed in a relatively short time from Ronald Reagan's shining city on a hill to the imposition of "our values" at the point of a bayonet.

[MacArthur]

Thank you so much for posting this excellent article by Patrick Buchanan. Very informative and tells it like it is. A must read.

[hosepipe]

[ You haven't checked the body politic since GW has been elected, it has both teats equally enlarged. lol ]

WELL!.......there you go again!....
You've left the restrictions of the metaphore...
Lady liberty like all women have one breast larger than the other.... Remember Bush is hampered by a whole congress full of other RINOS... And the 900+ FBI files Hillary has filed in her computers are NO help at all either.. And while we're watching Lady Libertys beasts-->> Hillary and her minions are performing "other operations" on Lady Liberty (while shes bent over) that can't be mentioned here.

DON'T EVEN ASK!...

[jeremiah]

You are right, one is larger than the other, although it is hard to tell, when suckling. I guess the poor are relegated to the hind teat, while the rich fat cat heartless ceo's of corporations get the larger one at least while the racist Republicans are in charge.

[Jhoffa_]

It's interesting to note how loathe many prominent conservatives have been about discussing these differences. It hasn't been in their interest to air the debate, it might lessen their influence.

Exactly. I welcome such a split.

Let them go sell themselves as the party of big government, abortion, social programs, foreign interests, open borders, disdain for the constitution and global markets.

I wonder who will be left after they secure the "NWO" vote?

[Artois]

Fantastic article by the always eloquent Patrick J. Buchanan. Sigh...if only that name was preceded by President.

[John Lenin]

Remember Kristol was advising Dan Quayle & Bush Sr. in the 92 election

No wonder he lost !