The battle for the soul of the Republican Party has begun.
On Thursday, I saw David Brooks give a surprisingly effective speech at the American Political Science Association meetings. Most of it was standup comedy based on his books Bobos in Paradise and On Paradise Drive, which the audience loved. But Brooks also made a serious argument that the GOP must confront economic inequality and cultural segmentation. This was the Brooks we saw before George W. Bush defeated John McCain and silenced Brooks and his fellow “national greatness conservatives” – and it’s a compelling message.
Brooks said that the GOP is “a party that doesn’t have a political philosophy” at this point, and argued that it must adapt if it is to remain a governing party. A majority party cannot stand in opposition to government. In addition, he said, the GOP must acknowledge the reality it has denied – that economic inequality has grown tremendously over the last several decades, and that this growth in inequality is hurting American democracy.
What Brooks is proposing is reviving national greatness conservatism in a different form – changing the GOP’s “exhausted” anti-government philosophy, which he called a “complete failure" even before Katrina, to one advocating a “limited but energetic government” promoting social unity and economic vitality. He traced this strain of American thinking from Alexander Hamilton to Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt, but noted that it largely died out in the early 20th century because it didn’t align with the major ideological cleavage over the size of government, which divided big-government Democrats from small-government Republicans.
He outlined a series of policies that would advance his twin goals of economic vitality and social equality in areas such as family policy, education, entitlement reform, tax reform, immigration reform, national service and civic education, and named Rudy Giuliani and John McCain as two politicians who subscribe to versions of this philosophy (as well as some Democrats).
While I don’t agree with all of Brooks’ agenda, the country would be a better place if the Republicans took his advice. Katrina has thrown the incoherence of the GOP approach to governing into sharp relief. But Brooks and McCain face the same problem that overcame them in 1998-2000 – namely, that the national greatness approach doesn’t line up with the major ideological cleavage in American society. Conservatives don’t like it, and they control the Republican primaries. Despite Brooks' post-Katrina claim that "Rudy Giuliani, an unlikely GOP nominee a few months ago, could now win in a walk," a pro-life, anti-government politician is still likely to win the Republican nomination in 2008.
Still, our country needs to have this debate. Good for David Brooks for raising the issue.
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