Overview for David Frum in Print

Raising The Alarm

Geert Wilders has become famous as a ferocious critic of Islam and of the Netherlands' large and growing Muslim minority. He may soon find himself the elected leader of a bitterly divided country on an angry and unstable continent. In a small room in Washington's National Press Club, a tall man …

Written by David Frum on Saturday February 28, 2009

China Over A Barrel

If the world is to sustain open trade -- and progress to the even freer trade we need for future prosperity -- China will have to change its ways. With global markets tanking and unemployment soaring, Canadians are pinching their pennies. But as National Post contributors explain in a new …

Written by David Frum on Saturday February 21, 2009

Obama's Selective Blindness

President Obama has promised America a transparent administration. But transparency only helps those who have their eyes open. In Chicago, they teach ‘em to keep well shut. “Chicago ain’t ready for reform!” gloated the saloonkeeper-alderman Paddy Bauler when Richard Daley was first elected mayor …

Written by David Frum on Thursday February 19, 2009

Yes, We Can (Even If They Can't)

President Obama's imminent visit to Canada presents Canadian conservatives with a great danger and a great opportunity. President Obama's imminent visit to Canada presents Canadian conservatives with a great danger and a great opportunity. The danger: Obama is pushing the United States hard …

Written by David Frum on Saturday February 14, 2009

China And India In The Balance

Scary as this recession is for the developed world, it poses a terrible and lethal threat to the world's two biggest emerging markets. More human beings have escaped poverty in the past 20 years than in any equivalent period in the history of the world. Since 1990, China and India have pulled …

Written by David Frum on Saturday February 7, 2009

An Unwelcome Revolution

With the election fo Barack Obama, American voters are about to get the sharpest left-turn in public policy since the middle 1960s. What did Americans want when they voted for Barack Obama in November? Some wanted an end to the war in Iraq. Some wanted the middle-class tax cut Obama offered. …

Written by David Frum on Saturday January 31, 2009

Obama At Gettysburg

Barack Obama’s speech contained not one memorable phrase. It stumbled again and again into cliché. Obama’s speech was like Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address ? Like Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address? Lincoln’s Second Inaugural has aptly been called the most terrifying state paper in American …

Written by David Frum on Friday January 30, 2009

The Speech Obama Should Have Given

President Barack Obama's inaugural address was a sad, flat effort that cruelly wasted one of the grandest moments in American history: the swearing in of the first black president. President Barack Obama's inaugural address was a sad, flat effort that cruelly wasted one of the grandest moments in …

Written by David Frum on Saturday January 24, 2009

The Conciliatory Radical

Obama's inaugural address made clear that Democrats have little reason to doubt the new president’s commitment to left-wing orthodoxies. The age of big government, re-regulation, multiculturalism, and process-oriented diplomacy has come roaring back. In the heady first days after a thumping …

Written by David Frum on Thursday January 22, 2009

Two Books To Help You Understand America

Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State by Andrew Gelman and The Big Sort by Bill Bishop are must-reads for understanding the inner workings of American politics. Good news: If you haven't already read any of the half-dozen books published about John McCain in 2008 -- or the many more …

Written by David Frum on Saturday January 10, 2009

We Need An Elected Senate

The Conservative Party's Senate reforms have gone nowhere, but the Canadian Senate's members should compete for a popular mandate in order to govern. For two years, Stephen Harper pressed the provinces to hold elections so that he could appoint democratically selected senators. They ignored him. …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 27, 2008

Obama's Daley Standard Time

We are moving toward a closer entanglement of business, finance and government than anything the United States has known since the end of World War II. We are moving toward a closer entanglement of business, finance and government than anything the United States has known since the end of World War …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 18, 2008

No Exit From Bailout Politics

The federal government is taking ownership stakes in big banks and financial companies. Those stakes are likely soon to be joined by partial ownership of the automobile companies—and who knows what else? Entry into this new commitment is easy, but exit will be hard. It’s amazing how candid we get …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 11, 2008

For Its Own Survival, Harper Government Will Have To Feel The Pain

Stéphane Dion’s bid for unelected power has collapsed, Parliament is prorogued, and the Conservatives will remain the government for now. But the position of Canada's Conservatives has suddenly become much more precarious. The crisis is over; the danger continues. Stéphane Dion’s bid for …

Written by David Frum on Saturday December 6, 2008

Only The Losers Will Survive Ottawa's Game Of Competitive Suicide

What is going on in Ottawa is a game of competitive suicide. Whoever “wins” this parliamentary power play destroys himself. Only the “losers” will survive. What is going on in Ottawa is a game of competitive suicide. Whoever “wins” this parliamentary power play destroys himself. Only the “losers” …

Written by David Frum on Monday December 1, 2008

The Obama Illusion

Barack Obama faces a heavy burden of expectations from the rest of the world. Barack Obama faces a heavy burden of expectations from the rest of the world, just as strong> Shrum has said

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 27, 2008

Obama's Power Play At State

Obama talked of change. But in politics, some things never change. One of those things is the hard reality of power. We must be getting close to Christmas—even strong> Shrum Stover at Yale

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 20, 2008

Republican Resilience, Democratic Dilemma

While Republicans lost in 2008, they did not lose nearly so badly as might have been expected. As Republicans rebuild, they need to take the measure of their strengths as well as their weaknesses. In the euphoria of Democratic victory, Shrum seems to have read my last column with something less …

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 13, 2008

Rahm Emanuel: The Man From Delta

Friends and enemies agree that the key to Rahm Emanuel’s success is his legendary intensity. Within seconds of the news of the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff, all Washington was quoting an anecdote from an article in last year’s Rolling Stone : Friends and enemies …

Written by David Frum on Friday November 7, 2008

Republicans Face Fraught Choice Between Two Roads To Revival

In the wake of yesterday’s bruising result, the Republican party faces an excruciating and divisive choice between two very different futures. In the wake of yesterday’s bruising result, the Republican party faces an excruciating and divisive choice between two very different futures. The …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 5, 2008