MB Civic

By E.J. Dionne | Tuesday, November 28, 2006 | The Washington Post

Political analyst E.J. Dionne weaves together two lines of thought here. The first traces the evolution of the Republican Party since the 1964 Goldwater campaign and clearly identifies Reagan as the heir of Goldwater. Convincing and tightly written – this alone could be expanded into a book.

After explaining that the Republicans have blown their prior credibility on national defense with the botched Iraq War, he then goes on to a less obvious but HUGE problem that he predicts will divide the Republicans for the forseeable future: the clash between market forces and American middle class families. In his words, “…Pro-market libertarians and pro-family social conservatives are more aware than ever that their respective values and interests do not coincide.”

He then launches into a capsule review of an esssay in the latest issue of the conservative Weekly Standard by Yuval Levin, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which explains the tensions Big Business and the American family clearly. Levin proposes several worthy, centrist practical fixes that would care for the American middle class in these uncertain times. They all involve (gasp) creative new methods of government spending. Sounds a lot like Bill Clinton, quite rightly. Policy wonks: come and get it, the goodies are here…BS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701022.html