Comments on: Thoughts On A Solidaristic Center-Right

By: THURSDAY GOD & CAESAR EDITION | Big Pulpit

THURSDAY GOD & CAESAR EDITION | Big Pulpit — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:52:22 +0000

[...] On A Solidaristic Center-Right – Pete Spiliakos, First Things [...]

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:24:37 +0000

Yeah, the GOP will become conservative populist, since that’s where its base is–anti-TARP, anti-TBTF, etc., etc. They’ll find a way to go that way without going too far towards the Randian caricature. The DC establishment will go the way of the dinosaur, although it will do so fairly smoothly as all modern establishments do. Of course, their biggest ally is the insane overreach of the Dems from 2008-2010, as Obamacare is already imploding on itself before its even off the ground.

By: Thoughts On A Solidaristic Center-Right – First Things (blog) | politicsandpolls.com

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:56:07 +0000

[...] Thoughts On A Solidaristic Center-RightFirst Things (blog)These Romney message choices were driven by short-sighted opportunism (responding to Obama's Osawatomie speech in the first instance and flattering an audience of rich donors in the second), not destiny. A different … Republicans could be the party … [...]

By: Thoughts On A Solidaristic Center-Right | CATHOLIC FEAST

Thoughts On A Solidaristic Center-Right | CATHOLIC FEAST — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:01:02 +0000

[...] Ross Douthat writes about the decline of “the Catholic vision of the good society — more egalitarian than American conservatism and more moralistic than American liberalism.” Everything he says is true as far as I can tell, and yet I think there is plenty of room for a politics that Source: Postmodern Conservative [...]

By: Pete Spiliakos

Pete Spiliakos — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:09:51 +0000

djf, yes to some extent it sure does, but so do other themes. Douthat mentions compassionate conservatism (which was itself a reaction to some more flamboyant kinds of anti-statist rhetoric.) I don’t think that is the model we should follow. For instance the Republican approach to welfare reform was deeply solidaristic in its rhetoric and intentions (reintegrating people into mainstream life and – to a lesser degree – reestablishing family structures.)

By: djf

djf — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:50:31 +0000

“There is a hole in our politics where a center-right politics of limited government solidarity should be. That isn’t because of a lack of policy proposals or the lack of a (latent) public desire for such a center-right politics. This lack in our politics exists because of mistakes by key political elites who keep getting suckered by Obama’s statism into a radical-sounding rhetorical anti-statism that doesn’t even reflect Republican policy.”

Pete, I think Republican politicians’ use of “radical-sounding rhetorical anti-statism” began long before Obama. This sort of self-defeating rhetorical overkill was certainly around in 1994. You could even argue that it goes back to the late 70s.

By: Pete Spiliakos

Pete Spiliakos — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:57:45 +0000

Simon, there might well be foreign policy differences between Romney, Gingrich and Santorum (the three candidates who won pluralities of the popular vote in states – I don’t mean delegate selection where Ron Paul did better in some places), but I don’t remember what those might have been. Santorum’s foreign policy views (and his tone) might well have been a problem in the general election, but I don’t think they hurt him in the primaries. He, Gingrich, and Romney were all fishing from the same pool of voters here.

By: Simon94022

Simon94022 — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:43:32 +0000

Santorum also carried the burden of G.W.Bush’s disastrous foreign policy, which Santorum vigorously supported.

The American people — even Republican primary voters — are unlikely to entrust power to anyone who celebrates military intervention in the Middle East or nation-building exercises anywhere. That Santorum got as far as he did in spite of his alarming hawkishness is a testament to the power of social conservatism.