Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Bill Kirstol vs. Republican Gloom and Doom

According to Bill, things aren’t so bad. Conservative policies, we have to remember, are working well, and we’re starting to win in Iraq. No doubt the Republican nominee will start behind. But if even Bush the elder can rally to victory (1988), surely the guys we have now have what it takes to do the same. Because I’m naturally predisposed to doom and gloom, I have to exercise extreme impulse control not to give the case in the other direction. So I’ll add that the outcomes of elections--like the outcomes of wars--only seem inevitable after the fact. There are always plenty of reasons to both hope and fear, because we really don’t know how things are going to play out.

Discussions - 2 Comments

I admire very much Bill Kristol's writing and insights. However, I'm reminded that he was equally optimistic about the 2006 mid-terms, and he was quite wrong there.

Give into the impulse, Peter. :-)

On the contrary, Peter, I admire your reserve in this instance. It is always more useful to focus on the positive--particularly when you are given to the opposite interpretation. One shouldn't be a Pollyanna (to use an over and, even, mis-used phrase) but giving in to gloom and doom is dispiriting and thought killing.

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