Conservative. Small Government. Individual Responsibility. Hand Up, Not a Hand Out. Reform. Tax Relief.
This stuff sounds great, doesn't it? These are a few of the characteristics that Republicans have managed to attach to their image in the collective unconscious. But those of us who actually pay attention, know that these "ideals" of conservatism are rarely met in governance, and when they are the solutions they produce rarely manage to address the issue in any significant way. I think this video really speaks to reality.
More after the break....
The fact is that we have enough historical evidence of Republican rule in the last 30 years to put the reality on stark display. And unimaginative, materialistic, and resistant to change are pretty much the perfect way to describe their governance. And the Republicans know that. This is why every time they're looking bad come election time, they bust out the makeup, try to recast themselves in some way, and are frequently successful, as they have become masters of the soundbite. Right now, McCain and all the rest are desperately trying to convince the public that he is a candidate of change, too.
George Bush did the same thing in his first election, with the "compassionate conservative" line. This echoes McCain's "New Kind Of Conservative" bit. Frankly it was a bizzare thing to call it, since the main idea was to have churches step in and take over, as much as possible, the health and human services aspect of government, because they have "more experience helping the poor". Very compassionate. It's a great way to support feel-good "help the poor" programs without having to be responsible for results.
What every happened to
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
Apparently, this wasn't compassionate enough for ol' GWB. His lines about bring change to conservatism never came to pass, and he continued, exactly, the path of his predecessors: increased size of government, irresponsible spending, both military and domestic, grow the gap between rich and poor, promise but fail to deliver health care reform.
Let's take a quick look at the rest of his platform from 2000:, from wikipedia:
No Nation Building
"If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road. And I'm going to prevent that."
No Child Left Behind
Energy Independence, with focus on drilling in ANWR, some acknowledgement of renewable sources.
Modernize the Military, particularly in relation to Missile Defense
Tax Cuts like crazy
Of the things on his platform, he managed to deliver exactly two: Military Buildup, and Tax Cuts. We got NCLB, but it did the opposite of it's name, so we're going to consider it a wash.
John's Campaign Platform is pretty dense, if you take everything seriously at JohnMcCain.com, but some key aspects are definitely beginning to emerge:
Continue the War
More Tax Cuts
End Lobbyist Influence
End Dependence on Foreign Oil
Be a "New Kind of Conservative"
I wonder which of those he would actually deliver on? My guess is military spending and tax cuts.