Conservatism, RIP

» New Yorker: The Fall of Conservatism (George Packer)

Just about the best read for the week, I think. Packer does a pretty decent distillation of "the fall" with an emphasis on Rick Perlstein's "Nixonland" and David Frum's "Dead Right" and "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again"The similarity of the GOP circa-now and the Democratic Party, circa 1979/80 is readily apparent. Having lived through both and come of political age during the wilderness years of the Democratic side of this, it's hard not to want to quote Yogi Berra these days. Obviously, there's a certain sense of glee that comes from the entertaining, yet realistic thought of padding majorities to the House and Senate at a time when the Presidency looks like an easier pickup than at any previous point for a non-incumbent (at this stage in 1992, Clinton was running third in some polls).

Adding to the mix such books as Ross Douthat & Reihan Salam's "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream", there's little reason to find a lasting joy in the failings of today's GOP, however. If anything, the advances in communication and technology might very well mean we're at a point of quickened political discourse. Rather than wait for generational changes to take effect, the power of persuasion might very well be seen as a device that shortens the lifespan of future electoral coalitions. Without a doubt, there will be numerous GOP-themed thought provoking titles that aim to steer their party out of the wilderness. Whether it's the power of conservative vs liberal ideas (whichever they may be at any given time) or the nature of pent-up demands for certain societal fixes (in the modern case - at minimum, ending a war that America has generally tired of and sees little productive outcome from).

It will no doubt take a while to measure whether the upcoming Democratic gains warrant anything more than an election win. That may or may not prove the point of a modern center-left ascendancy, but the truth will no doubt remain that modern conservatism is, in fact, dead. At least for a while.