David Frum - take two
I had an earlier entry about author David Frum today (
here), he also writes a column for National Review -- this week he is writing about the New Hampshire primaries:
bq.
Thunder on the Right
“A Concerned Bloc of Republicans Wonders Whether Bush is Conservative Enough.” That was the headline on the New York Times’ report on this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference – and the story that followed was an acute piece of journalism. I’m in the middle of my second book tour in the space of twelve months. I’ve been traveling from one talk-radio station to another, listening both to the callers and the hosts, when the mikes are on and when the mikes are off. Twelve months ago, the support for President Bush among conservatives was rock-solid: I mean, Reagan 1984 solid. Today, that support is still more solid than not – but just enough softer that if I were a Bush political adviser, I’d be concerned.
bq. Conservatives dislike the prescription drug bill and the spending boom. But the policy that they most passionately dislike is the Bush immigration plan. It arises everywhere – California of course, but throughout the rest of the country too.
bq. Is immigration enough to stop conservatives from supporting George Bush? Probably not. But it is enough to make the ground under his feet just slightly less solid than it was or should be. And there may be odd things ahead in this election year. The Democrats seem, wisely, to have decided that Howard Dean offered them a one-way ticket to disaster. On the other hand, Dean proved that there is a large and dedicated block of voters in this country militantly opposed to the terror war and wide open to passionate anti-Bush appeals. Where will they go if the Democrats nominate a conventional liberal like John Edwards or John Kerry?
bq. Here’s one thought: If Dean is forced out of the race, it is looking increasingly likely that Ralph Nader will run. And one of the striking things about Nader’s personal evolution over the past four years is that he has shifted from being a dogmatic sort of leftist to an increasingly ruthless and unprincipled demagogue. On Bill Maher’s program Friday, I heard Nader denounce George Bush for deficit spending. Ralph Nader! Is it conceivable that Nader could attempt to use the immigration issue? It seems unlikely – and yet … and yet I think George Bush would be wise to pay very careful attention to the discontents of his conservative base over the next 11 months.
The immigration issue is a thorny one - Victor Davis Hanson wrote a good essay about that (blogged
here) -- his opinions on this are especially valid since he is a fifth-generation grape farmer in the Central Valley of California - he is somewhat close to this issue...
Posted by DaveH at January 26, 2004 8:39 PM