Overview for David Frum in Print

Mexico's Drug War: A Nightmare Scenario

The lesson of the past few years: Watch out for things that can go massively wrong. What could go massively wrong in 2011? Let's start next door, with Mexico. The lesson of the past few years: Watch out for things that can go massively wrong. What could go massively wrong in 2011? Let's start …

Written by David Frum on Monday January 3, 2011

Give Them Something to Say

The Republican presidential candidates need a good script to win over the public in 2012. By tradition, the next presidential election begins in the weeks after the last congressional election. I'm happily participating in the tradition myself by publicly speculating about possible candidates . …

Written by David Frum on Thursday December 23, 2010

Why No Labels Makes Sense

I'm proud to remain a Republican. But, No Labels allows us to address the issues that can't be reduced to party dogma. "Has any org ever gotten off to a worse start?" That was Slate publisher Jake Weisberg’s tweeted reaction to the launch of the new centrist organization, "No Labels." Weisberg …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday December 15, 2010

Lockerbie: The Scandal of the Decade?

The WikiLeaks cables offer more evidence the British government was complicit in the release of the Pan Am bomber. WikiLeaks has done terrible harm to some good people. Yet it's also true that the leaked diplomatic cables have brought shame and embarrassment to people who could not deserve it …

Written by David Frum on Friday December 10, 2010

Why Obesity is a National Security Threat

A new emerging cultural divide is tearing at military efficiency: obesity and the overweight. "An army travels on its stomach," said Napoleon Bonaparte. But what happens if the stomach gets too big to drag? Congress is passionately debating whether open homosexuality is compatible with …

Written by David Frum on Monday December 6, 2010

A DREAM Bill That's More like a Nightmare

Harry Reid's legislation to provide amnesty for illegal aliens has no chance of passage. Here's why that's good news. What should the Democrats do with their final weeks of majority status in the House of Representatives? Should they work to renew middle-income tax cuts, as promised? Should …

Written by David Frum on Thursday November 25, 2010

The Right Way to Honor Ronald Reagan

We're approaching the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Ronald Reagan: February 6, 2011. It's time to begin thinking seriously about an appropriate national commemoration of this good man and great president. We're approaching the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Ronald Reagan: February 6, …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 22, 2010

Free Speech (for Some) at York University

Why is former British MP George Galloway an honored guest at Canada's York University, while those who uphold democratic values are silenced on campus? York University's reception of George Galloway -- and the Toronto area university's legal threats against Galloway protesters -- reminded me of an …

Written by David Frum on Saturday November 20, 2010

Can Mitt Romney be President?

The outlook is sunny. But he faces rough seas ahead. Tea Party, Shmea Party. Post-election surveys suggest that Mitt Romney still leads as the favored Republican presidential candidate for 2012. His lead looks especially big in New Hampshire: Almost 30 points. Does this big lead translate …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday November 10, 2010

If GOP Won't Deal, Health Law Won't Change

Without compromise, Obama's health care law will still be in effect in two years. I'm going to get personal here. On the day that health care reform passed its final vote in the House, I posted on my blog a comment titled "Waterloo." I said that the intransigence of Republican leaders had …

Written by David Frum on Monday November 8, 2010

Include Everybody

On Tuesday, the citizens of Toronto elected a new mayor: a budget-cutting populist. How did he win? It's mostly what he did not do: He did not exclude. You wouldn't normally look to a Canadian election for a glimpse of the possible future of American politics. But maybe this is one time we …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 28, 2010

Prelude to Republican Fratricide

GOP candidates in New York and New Jersey should be cruising to victory this November. But angry conservatives would rather hand power to Democrats than help moderate Republicans win. At the beginning of the summer, most observers expected Republicans to win all three of the big elections on Nov. …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 21, 2010

Lessons from David Cameron

Britain's Conservative prime minister could teach the Republicans a thing or two. It's fair to say that American Republicans have to this point disdained David Cameron's modernized British Conservatives. Since gaining the leadership of the Conservatives in 2005, Cameron has committed his party …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday October 20, 2010

Not So Fast, Tea Partiers

Why a big win in November will only strengthen the case for moderate reform of the Republican Party Slate 's Dave Weigel called last week with a tough question: People such as Ross Douthat, Reihan Salam, David Brooks, and myself, he pointed out, have urged Republicans to modernize their …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 14, 2010

Beyond the Base

Does a resurgent Republican party have what it takes to govern well, for everyone? It's good to learn from experience, but better to learn from other people's experiences. That old saying resonates in the mind of a North American visitor to this week's British Conservative Party conference in …

Written by David Frum on Thursday October 7, 2010

We're Not on a 'Road to Serfdom'

"Be not afraid" was the message of Pope John Paul II's Inaugural Mass. It's a message American conservatives need to take to heart again in the era of Barack Obama. "Be not afraid" was the message of Pope John Paul II's Inaugural Mass. It's a message American conservatives need to take to heart …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 4, 2010

Soaking the Super Rich

Some Democrats have begun contemplating a new tax rate to apply exclusively to the super rich. It's a terrible idea. There's gathering interest on the Democratic side in a new extra-top rate on very-high-income people. It's fine (they think) to whack the over-$200,000 crowd with a 39.6 percent …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 22, 2010

Get Ready for a Tax Hike

Everybody seems to believe that the GOP and Democrats will reach an agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts. Just about everybody may be wrong. The Bush tax cuts are scheduled to lapse in January 2011. Congress is debating some kind of renewal, and most people assume that some kind of renewal …

Written by David Frum on Monday September 20, 2010

Putting Union Jobs Ahead of Children's Futures

With the defeat of D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, the teachers’ unions have sent a message to every urban Democrat: Your first priority is to protect our jobs. You’ve all heard about the embarrassing Republican fratricide in Delaware. Oddball candidate Christine O’Donnell upended party favourite Mike …

Written by David Frum on Saturday September 18, 2010

Tea Party Cannibals

The Tea Party has an appetite for RINOs, but not for the kind of compromises that bring a party together. Christine O’Donnell had barely finished making a meal of Rep. Mike Castle when she appeared on Good Morning America to deplore Republican “cannibalism.” Tuesday’s message: “Get out of our …

Written by David Frum on Wednesday September 15, 2010