When the parties are this closely divided, small, sometimes extreme elements can exercise far more power than their numbers would justify. The solution is either to win with larger margins to relegate extreme minorities to the sidelines or to secure strong party leadership that can control errant minorities. The latter, at the moment, is like putting the toothpaste back in the tube. We apparently are one of the few countries where the political parties exercise no control over who runs under the party label.
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“In substituting politics for religion, the media, like much of America, finds itself seeing fulfillment by excising sin from their lives. “
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You do not have to outrun the tiger; you only need to outrun the other campers. Voters can acknowledge Trump’s imperfections while still preferring his results to the political correctness, campus illiberalism, outrage, whining intolerance, contempt, and swamp mentality of the left. As long as they blame others for Trump’s victory they will remain stuck on stupid.
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From What Happened to the ‘Libertarian Moment’? by Henry Olsen in National Review Now it is true that the Republican party is overwhelmingly conservative and that most conservatives oppose high taxes and government direction of society. Polls have shown for decades
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It appears Trump is going to lose, and the best we can hope for is for the GOP to hold on to both houses of Congress. The Trumpers have nobody to blame but Trump. He not only failed to assemble
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The Democrats have long enjoyed greater unity than the Republicans. Even the surprising challenge raised from Bernie Sanders is now only a recent memory. This may have come from the insider manipulations and the control wielded by the super delegates,
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From The Atlantic, How American Politics Went Insane by Jonathan Rauch Starting in the 1970s, large-dollar donations to candidates and parties were subject to a tightening web of regulations. The idea was to reduce corruption (or its appearance) and curtail the power
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from Bret Stephens at The Wall Street Journal, The Better Angels of Our Nature When did the decline of American character begin? Maybe it was between July 1969, when two Americans walked on the moon, and a Saturday that August,
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Jonah Goldberg writes in Townhall, Time to Grow Up, GOP, 1/16/13. Excerpt: The good is obvious. The ill is less understood. For starters, the movement has an unhealthy share of hucksters eager to make money from stirring rage, paranoia and
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The January 2013 issue of Commentary asked 53 writers and conservative leaders What is the Future of Conservatism? This is part of the response from Bret Stephens, I know it’s a small thing in the scheme of the universe that Ashcroft should have been
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The more surprising post election statistic is the strong Democratic support from the Asian American community, almost as strong as Hispanic support. Asian Americans are among the most successful immigrants and one may have believed that their value of core
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Both parties seem to have elements that the other party considers extreme. For the Democrats it is union thugs, liberal anti-Semites, environmental zealots, and blatant socialists. For the Republicans it is creationists (considered anti-science), fundamentalist Christians, pro-lifers, and the ethnocentric.
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I do not remember a vetting of political candidates as tough as the what have seen. This is a good thing. Romney is like the prom date that was second choice. You dance and smile at him, but secretly glance
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Incompetent Conservatives
The January 2013 issue of Commentary asked 53 writers and conservative leaders What is the Future of Conservatism? This is part of the response from Bret Stephens, I know it’s a small thing in the scheme of the universe that Ashcroft should have been