THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 73, April 12, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS & STRONG CURRENTS OF HOT AIR:
JOHN KERRY SNEAKS INTO THE "BIG TENT"
By Christopher G. Adamo
FULL STORY:
Among Ronald Reagan’s most enduring legacies, was his “Big Tent” approach to
Republican Party politics. Standing firm in his driving principles, Reagan
invited others to put aside their own petty differences and follow him, thereby
sharing his overall vision for a strong and prosperous America. Thus, he
established himself as the most successful Republican
President of the last half-century.
Unfortunately, once Reagan left office in 1989, prominent party operatives
abandoned his philosophy, proving that they did not comprehend the reasons
for his success. In its place, they adopted a counterfeit “Big Tent,” which
has only served to undermine party successes and the Conservative agenda
ever since. This approach was epitomized by the 1996 candidacy of Bob Dole .
According to Dole’s version, the party would seek to incorporate every
possible disparate viewpoint into its platform, with the intention of
persuading as many people as possible that it concurred with their
interests.
Bob Dole’s defeat highlighted the consistently disastrous results of this
approach. While Reagan’s “Big tent” was built on the concept of leadership,
Dole’s resulted from a vain attempt at following the crowd. And where Reagan’s
approach resulted in a general elevation of party standards to the level
of his own, Dole reduced everyone to the lowest common denominator.
In those circumstances where George W. Bush has embraced the Dole strategy,
he has left gaping holes in an administrative and policy leadership record that would otherwise
have been nearly impervious to Democrat attacks. The latest posturing by
John Kerry merely resulted from his recognition of this weakness.
Despite the media circus of last week’s 9-11 hearings, George W. Bush
largely remains beyond the reach of opponents who sought to denigrate his
response to the terrorist threat. Not surprisingly, the Kerry campaign has
since shifted gears and is once again focusing on Bush’s domestic agenda,
but this time with an odd twist. Amazing as it may seem, Kerry now seeks to
portray himself as “fiscally Conservative.”
After the hysterical laughter has subsided, a sobering fact remains. Nobody
has done more to grant credibility to Kerry’s absurd contention than George
W. Bush himself. In an effort to further the misbegotten premise of his “new
tone,” Bush on many occasions fell into the snare of Dole’s “Big Tent,”
spearheading and implementing, among other things, a school funding
explosion that ought to please the most extravagant of educrats, along with
the largest federal entitlement expansion since Lyndon Johnson.
As it’s name implies, Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” program, instead of
raising standards, focuses on the lowest and slowest (In contrast to the
traditional American approach of “Each and every child to his or her fullest
potential”). Nonetheless, Liberals at every level of the education
bureaucracy, from federal to local, are just as adamant in their opposition
to the program’s miniscule degree of accountability as they are anxious to
get their hands on its accompanying funds.
Nor has Bush gained ground among Americans who are mired in the entitlement
mentality. Like every failed Statist or Socialist effort throughout history, the
prescription drug program costs far too much and delivers far too little to
be of any real benefit to anyone. Neither has it yielded any political
benefit to the President. Seniors who expect others to pay for their
medicine know far too well that, no matter how bighearted Republicans are
willing to be with taxpayer’s dollars, Democrats invariably promise to hand
out a great deal more.
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Conservatives have long been frustrated with
Republican Senator Arlen Specter, a Trojan horse who does more to undermine
the Conservative agenda than any dozen Liberal Democrats. Specter’s crowning
achievement of recent months has been the disruption of efforts to pass a
federal constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage.
In response, Pennsylvania Conservatives are pinning their hopes on Pat
Toomey, a far more principled candidate, who is challenging Specter in this
year’s Republican primary. Unfortunately, believing that Specter’s presence
on the November ballot will improve the President’s reelection prospects, the
Bush-Cheney campaign is pushing hard for Specter, even pressuring college
Republicans to abandon their morals and give him their support. Apparently,
in this “tent,” Conservatives are welcome only insofar as they are willing
to check their principles at the door.
Who could blame John Kerry if he seizes upon such a glaring example of
unprincipled pragmatism and exploits it to his political advantage? Perhaps,
along with his newfound devotion to “fiscal Conservatism,” Kerry will now
attempt to pass himself off as being “morally Conservative.”
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
American Government & the U.S. Presidency
Liberalism Versus Conservatism in American Politics
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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