Bluejack (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} bluujack) wrote,@ 2009-04-13 20:40:00 |
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Palin v. McCain
In the aftermath of Obama's victory, pundits have occasionally wondered whether Sarah Palin might be the future of the Republican Party. She's attractive, she reads a script well, she's ruthlessly political, and while she may be woefully undereducated, she's by no means stupid. She represents a dramatic change from the rich-white-guy image and that change, rumor has it, energized the Republican party.
Personally, I doubt it. If Palin is the future of the Republican party, the Republican party doesn't have much future.
The politics of destruction will never go out of style, but the recent Bush administration has so thoroughly demonstrated the drawbacks of undemocratic leadership in a democratic society that it seems unlikely we will see that strategy as a winning paradigm for at least a decade or two.
More importantly, however, Obama has demonstrated that the traditional battle lines of Democrat v. Republican and liberal v. conservative no longer have the motivating power they once did. This is perhaps because they just don't make much sense, and they have not made much sense since the Kennedy era. Obama tapped into the desire for centrist leadership that unifies rather than divides and solves problems rather than scores brownie points with narrow demographics.
But the first person I have seen articulating a coherent political philosophy, and a philosophy that genuinely points toward a viable, positive future of the Republican party is... I don't quite believe I'm saying this... McCain. No, not sell-out John: his daughter. Meghan McCain.
Now, I don't know for sure if she wrote this herself, but her recent piece A Gayer GOP is not just a sensible political rationale for being more inclusive, it's actually a coherent articulation of conservative philosophy and why that philosophy should be inclusive.
I'm not Republican, and there are very few conservative views that I have much sympathy for. On many levels from the practice of patently manipulative and hypocritical politics to the simple conclusion that even the most noble of conservative principles are simply unworkable, I just don't think conservative ideals and principles are the right choice at the national level. However, the country would be better off with an opposition party that is working on good ideas for the betterment of the country, rather than a party dedicated to the destruction of the majority party. What I've read of the younger McCain so far suggests that hers might be such a voice, and if the Republican party is ever going to contribute to the positive rebuilding of America, I hope it does so with a vision like hers.
Occasionally I have flippantly said that I hope Palin is the future of the party because that means the party will be marginalized for several administrations. But I don't believe that. I believe that a coherent, constructive, challenging voice from the right will bring forth coherent, constructive, and challenging change from the left.
In a competition of good ideas, the best will usually succeed, and where the best don't succeed, the second-best won't be bad. But in a vacuum of ideas, anything can succeed: and no matter who is in power or how well intentioned they might be, that scares me more than anything.
In the aftermath of Obama's victory, pundits have occasionally wondered whether Sarah Palin might be the future of the Republican Party. She's attractive, she reads a script well, she's ruthlessly political, and while she may be woefully undereducated, she's by no means stupid. She represents a dramatic change from the rich-white-guy image and that change, rumor has it, energized the Republican party.
Personally, I doubt it. If Palin is the future of the Republican party, the Republican party doesn't have much future.
The politics of destruction will never go out of style, but the recent Bush administration has so thoroughly demonstrated the drawbacks of undemocratic leadership in a democratic society that it seems unlikely we will see that strategy as a winning paradigm for at least a decade or two.
More importantly, however, Obama has demonstrated that the traditional battle lines of Democrat v. Republican and liberal v. conservative no longer have the motivating power they once did. This is perhaps because they just don't make much sense, and they have not made much sense since the Kennedy era. Obama tapped into the desire for centrist leadership that unifies rather than divides and solves problems rather than scores brownie points with narrow demographics.
But the first person I have seen articulating a coherent political philosophy, and a philosophy that genuinely points toward a viable, positive future of the Republican party is... I don't quite believe I'm saying this... McCain. No, not sell-out John: his daughter. Meghan McCain.
Now, I don't know for sure if she wrote this herself, but her recent piece A Gayer GOP is not just a sensible political rationale for being more inclusive, it's actually a coherent articulation of conservative philosophy and why that philosophy should be inclusive.
I'm not Republican, and there are very few conservative views that I have much sympathy for. On many levels from the practice of patently manipulative and hypocritical politics to the simple conclusion that even the most noble of conservative principles are simply unworkable, I just don't think conservative ideals and principles are the right choice at the national level. However, the country would be better off with an opposition party that is working on good ideas for the betterment of the country, rather than a party dedicated to the destruction of the majority party. What I've read of the younger McCain so far suggests that hers might be such a voice, and if the Republican party is ever going to contribute to the positive rebuilding of America, I hope it does so with a vision like hers.
Occasionally I have flippantly said that I hope Palin is the future of the party because that means the party will be marginalized for several administrations. But I don't believe that. I believe that a coherent, constructive, challenging voice from the right will bring forth coherent, constructive, and challenging change from the left.
In a competition of good ideas, the best will usually succeed, and where the best don't succeed, the second-best won't be bad. But in a vacuum of ideas, anything can succeed: and no matter who is in power or how well intentioned they might be, that scares me more than anything.
