It Just Hasn't Been Tried.

Josh Marshall has an important point, based off of a couple articles he read, and something I've seen floating around for quite a while. Clearly the conservatives are going to try and jettison themselves of the unpopular President and his unpopular policies for the sake of the conservative movement. Of course, at this point, the question is "what's left saving" in the conservative movement at all?

I am starting to believe that conservatism itself -- not the political machine, mind you, but the ideology -- is heading toward that misty land-over-the-ocean where ideologies go after they've shuffled off this mortal coil. Sort of like the way post-Stalinist lefties used to say, "You can't say Communism's failed. It's just never really been tried." [...]

What we appear to be in for now is the emergence of this phantom conservatism existing out in the ether, wholly cut loose from any connection to the actual people who are universally identified as the conservatives and who claim the label for themselves.

In other words, conservatives talk a good game but don't back it up with anything substantial. In fact, they actually frequently do the OPPOSITE of what they claim to be their core beliefs. For example, Republicans in the White House have consistently increased the size of government and ballooned deficit spending while in office for the last 25 years. Yet deficit reduction and smaller government are at the core of conservative ideology, supposedly.

For those of us who pay attention to this kinds of things, this is emblematic of a say-one-thing, do-another strategy that has been around the conservative movement for decades. Josh looks at what they've actually done:

Take the movement on its own terms and even be generous about it. What's it about? And has it delivered?

Aggressive defense policy? Check.

Privatization of government services? Check.

Regulatory regimes favoring big business? Check.

Government support for traditional mores and values on sex and marriage? Check.

That about covers it. And Bush has delivered. The results just aren't good.

The reason that, despite all the institutional supports, a friendly media structure, and a beleagured and frequently incompetent opponent in the Democrats, Republicans only win by the thinnest of majorities is because their results, the production and output they've given to the American people, is unpopular. They win on a "the other side would be worse" strategy. You saw it in force at Bush's press conference today. His answer to how he was going to help beat the Democrats in November was "they want to cut and run in Iraq, and they want to raise your taxes." There's no mention of the actual policies they've implemented, for which the American people are at best annoyed and at worst deeply angry. The media likes to ask if Democrats have a plan, and really that talk should be reserved for the Republicans.

Movement conservatives would tell you that there hasn't been any REAL conservatism, for whatever reason: the Democrats won't let it happen, the country isn't ready, etc. But actually, there has been. And those conservative policies, which have rewarded corporations, which have squeezed the middle class, which have lifted regulatory efforts, aren't popular. Bush today said "we have a record to run on." I wish they would run on it. They'd be slaughtered.