Conservatives against Bush

One of the best kept secrets of this election has been that many prominent conservatives are as fervently opposed to Bush as the liberals are. Bush probably cannot be defined as a conservative in the true sense of the word. Bush is socially conservative, economically profligate, and is a go it alone hawk in foreign policy. The last two definitely do not gel well with traditional conservative movement. It is sad that a great idea, based on the belief that a smaller government is better for all, has been shorn down to a stump and is now representative of no one other than the evangelical church. The conservatives have lost the Republican party. Bush has to lose this election if the real conservatives are to make a bid to get the party back. Hence we have prominent conservatives like Pat Buchanan and Scott McConnell turning against Bush.

The interesting side of all this is that if Bush wins, the struggle for the soul of the Republican party will be over. The party Builder that is Bush will leave the Republicans unassailable. However, a Republican loss would leave the party in disarray with the Bushies and the real conservatives fighting it out for control. This will probably give the democrats a decisive advantage for the foreseable future. In this sense, this is a crucial election.

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