The Kids Aren't Alright

Youthful, S/W/M Exuberant Seeks Conservative Party, Answers. Serious Inquiries Only.

I was born during Jimmy Carter's last week in the White House.

As such, I mercifully can't/don't have to remember anything about the man, those wide-as-a-Buick lapels he wore, or the stagflation over which he presided. I also don't remember much about Ronald Reagan other than that he had a warm, grandfatherly voice and I knew that my parents seemed to like him a lot.

Still, conservatives my age---no longer mere children, we!---were raised on the veritable Bread of Life that is Reagan. That almost biblical narrative upon which we base our political worldview is that of Reagan bringing America out of the lean years of a strange, feckless, played-out liberalism and into the fat years low taxes, low crime, and a defeated Evil Empire. (Plus, the Reaganites did look sharp, no? America's rediscovery of Brooks Brothers and thinner ties in the 80's were achievements on par with an ICBM treaty. Let there be no debate.)

So how come we 20-somethings didn't get a Reagan? No one would seriously argue that George W. Bush or John McCain were Reaganite conservatives, or even all that inspiring. Where was our Knight about whom we could get all misty-excited, who made us believe in America and ourselves? We want a better America: who shall lead us there?

His name, we are told, is Barack Obama. Our rendezvous with destiny moment has passed, and it was replaced by hope and change.

I didn't buy it in November and I don't buy it now. Despite his seeming new-found centrism, Barack is a liberal. Liberalism almost always creates more problems than it actually fixes (See, welfare, unionism, stagflation, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Roe, etc.) Perhaps more troubling, Barack is viewed not so much as a great politician, or even as a rock star, but rather as a kind of new manifestation of Jesus Christ---a Messiah whose words are the sole basis for the most amazing claims. (Quick test---which of these did Jesus say: ". . this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal," or, ". . .in my Father's house there are many mansions; I go there to prepare a place for you. . ."?)

But why, as a young person, do I stay with the uninspiring GOP? Because the problems of the present are starkly different from those when I was born, and I don't trust the Democrats. We need new answers. About healthcare. About the environment. About fixing the financial system with more than a tax cut on capital gains. About wage stagnation. About a lot of things unfettered markets cannot fix. And Democrats offer the same Euro-style, statist answers they always have, so I look elsewhere.

Which means some crazy third party or the GOP.

Conservatism is a temperament and outlook, not a set of policies, and I believe the GOP still offers the best vehicle for conservatives to fashion new responses to these modern problems. The GOP has always lent an ear, if not a gavel, to those who see government as an effective means to create order and alleviate problems, but not as the central focus of society. The GOP brand, grossly tarnished in recent years, still conveys to me one of restraint and competency in government. The GOP has vulgarized and overcapitalized on evangelical/Catholic/traditional moral values in recent years, but it still offers the best mechanism to stand athwart what can only be described as radical liberal morality. The GOP has become far too anti-intellectual, but at its best it has always recognized that many of life's answers don't originate in the faculty lounges of Ivy League universities.

So, I'm still itching to fight. And man-oh-man, Barack Obama will give us plenty of chances to do just that by giving in to misguided policies like card check and yielding to the more unreasonable environmentalists of his party. Further, the Democrats---just like the GOP of a couple of years ago---will fall prey to the corruptions and laziness of total control of the government. As a result, I think the next few years will be kinda easy and fun: opposition politics rocks!

But I want... and need... the GOP to tell me why I should be excited about the GOP taking back over. When the GOP retakes power (which, even if not soon, it will), it should be because we have viable solutions to problems like healthcare and the environment and the financial system, not because--once again!--the Democrats blew it.

I'm soberly optimistic that the GOP can meet this challenge. But it's going to take a lot of work and new ideas.

That's what Frum Forum is all about.