That would be Peggy Noonan, the former speech writer for President Reagan.  She has been increasingly critical of President Bush (for good reason) and now she has torn the Republican party a new one (also for good reason).  Highlights:

They came to make a difference and wound up with their butts in the butter. But affluence detaches, and in time skews thinking. It gives you the illusion you’re safe, and that everyone else is. A party can lose its gut this way.

…

They have scandals, bad personalities, don’t stand for anything. That’s why Republicans are losing: because they’re losers.

…

Mr. Bush has squandered the hard-built paternity of 40 years. But so has the party, and so have its leaders. If they had pushed away for serious reasons, they could have separated the party’s fortunes from the president’s. This would have left a painfully broken party, but they wouldn’t be left with a ruined “brand,” as they all say, speaking the language of marketing. And they speak that language because they are marketers, not thinkers. Not serious about policy. Not serious about ideas. And not serious about leadership, only followership.

Ouch.

Read the rest for yourself.

I’ve often said that voting for Bush was the worst vote that I’ve ever made - twice.  (Not that the alternatives were any better.)  Bush took the mantle of Conservative in Chief and subsequently sullied the image of what it means to be a conservative.  His comrades in the house aided him, also undermining their proclaimed beliefs.

The country found itself in an unpopular war and Congressmen sought to stave off unrest at the ballot box by larding up spending bill after spending bill.  “The voters at home may not like this war, but they’ll love their federally funded municipal parking deck,” they thought.  Such spending bills are anathema to conservatives, but Bush dutifully signed each one.  He chose to wait until Democrats gained power in both houses to show signs of fiscal restraint.  That isn’t leadership.  It isn’t conservatism.  It’s rank, partisan opportunism.

There was a time when Republicans were sent to D.C. to abolish the Department of Education.  It’s still there and has been expanded through the No Child Gets Ahead program.  It’s spending $1 billion every year on a reading program that doesn’t work.  Just one of many broken promises.

There was a time when Republicans pledged to reform - and hopefully reduce - entitlement programs.  That hasn’t happened either.  But it’s much worse than simply doing nothing.  They worked to create a new prescription drug entitlement program for seniors.

Republicans once positioned themselves as the party of law and order.  Then when they got to Washington they got involved with Jack Abramoff.  And one can’t forget Duke Cunningham.  There were others, some of whom skirted on the boundaries of legality and may be free today.  There is a phrase that says one should avoid the “appearance of impropriety” that I personally try to live by.  Doing so is an effective means of staying out of trouble.  Illegal or not, many Republicans choose to go well beyond the “appearance of impropriety” and thus negated their claims as the party of law and order.  Have some Democrats done the same?  You bet.  But they weren’t claiming to be the party of law and order; Republicans should hold themselves (and be held) to a higher standard.

Republicans have also long claimed the moral high ground - a perilous position.  They wore their Christian faith on their sleeve and promised wholesome, family oriented leadership.  Instead Mark Foley got caught seeking more than friendly relationships with male interns.  Larry Craig tap danced with a man in an airport.  David Vitter cheated on his wife with a prostitute, possibly even wearing a diaper in the process.  That’s just some of the more overt hypocrisy.  It’s also increasingly obvious that many Republicans feigned, or at least over-hyped, piety in order to woo values voters.  They have steadily, gradually worn away their moral foundation to the point that it is not obvious that one ever existed.  Some Democrats have realized this and have claimed the moral high ground as their own.

The Republicans didn’t get into the predicament they are in over night.  They worked to make it happen.  They blew considerable goodwill with the American people.  Unfortunately, the fix is not fast.  It will take years of good leadership at all levels of government to rebuild trust - to make voters really believe that they will do what they say.  The good news is that Republicans excel in the minority role; standing up for their stated values as they stonewall the Democrats.  More good news is that the Democrats will likely follow in the Republicans’ trail and disaffect the American people, although that disaffection may well be with the Democrats following the national party’s stated beliefs as opposed to the Republicans straying from theirs.  The real trick is developing and supporting young leaders in the party who can not only be conservatives while it is easy, but who can reclaim majorities in Congress and be conservatives when it is difficult.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.