Conservatism, Born Again

Published on October 20, 2005

Can conservatism — or at least Bush’s variety of it — be born again? Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and former Bush, Sr. speech writer, counsels the president to model his “mid-presidency crisis” after his earlier mid-life dilemna, and fix it in the same way. Tempering her criticism with plenty of kind words and […]

Can conservatism — or at least Bush’s variety of it — be born again? Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and former Bush, Sr. speech writer, counsels the president to model his “mid-presidency crisis” after his earlier mid-life dilemna, and fix it in the same way. Tempering her criticism with plenty of kind words and fond “W” stories, Noonan nonetheless charges Bush to humble himself, to vow to change every day, and, if he cares to save his “family” — his administration — to learn to once again see himself as “part of something larger.” In his forties, the larger something was Christianity. Today, says Noonan, it is the conservative movement dating back to Goldwater, and it is to its basics that Bush must recommit himself; to it, he must confess his sins, ask forgiveness and seek salvation. Surely there are at least some “paleocons” out there shouting Amen.

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