Francis Fukuyama Endorses Obama

Francis Fukuyama, the prominent academic and an early intellectual defender of neoconservatism, endorses Barack Obama in the pages of the American Conservative magazine:

I'm voting for Barack Obama this November for a very simple reason. It is hard to imagine a more disastrous presidency than that of George W. Bush. It was bad enough that he launched an unnecessary war and undermined the standing of the United States throughout the world in his first term. But in the waning days of his administration, he is presiding over a collapse of the American financial system and broader economy that will have consequences for years to come. As a general rule, democracies don't work well if voters do not hold political parties accountable for failure. While John McCain is trying desperately to pretend that he never had anything to do with the Republican Party, I think it would a travesty to reward the Republicans for failure on such a grand scale.

McCain's appeal was always that he could think for himself, but as the campaign has progressed, he has seemed simply erratic and hotheaded. His choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate was highly irresponsible; we have suffered under the current president who entered office without much knowledge of the world and was easily captured by the wrong advisers. McCain's lurching from Reaganite free- marketer to populist tribune makes one wonder whether he has any underlying principles at all.

Fukuyama's undergone a shift in recent years, notably declaring the death of his own neoconservative movement in a 2006 essay.

Comments

[johnnygoodwud]

gurgle, gurgle gurgle, the sound of the good ship S.S. McFudd sinking.

[EnglishPerson]

All endorsement's are good but Francis Fukuyama really? People should be allowed to atone for mistakes but the hubris with which he proclaimed an end to history and then his support for policies that were not just wrong now but were just as wrong when they were first taken makes me think people should take his support with a pinch of salt, him and Christopher Hitchens. Bandwagon jumpers and men with a severe lack of Judgement.

[mookworthjwilson]

Ummm...is this really and endorsement we want?

[lisakaz2]

More the merrier.

[walk0nwalls]

I dislike you Fukuyama but still, THIS one you got right.

As for the rest of your ideas...

[NationalTreasure]

the republicans have made such a mess of everything and realize the enomity of their follies so they are giving token support to Sen. Obama so that on day two of his administration they can begin to tear him down for not immediately fixing everything that the republicans screwed up over the last 28 years

[MarieLA]

Are we going to get to hear Rush Limbaugh screaming into a microphone that Mr. Fukuyama only endorsed Obama because he's black? I would enjoy that.

[unscum]

Bloodly neocon, he should be charged with war crimes along with the other nonconservatives whose rantings got us into the Iraq war.

[GoNitro]

Fukuyama makes a great point. The party of accountability must be called into account.

[lejman]

huh? well, okay. another vote accepted. the sources keep getting stranger.

[Benthead]

Yes, conservatives say they believe in accountability. So the Republican party must NOT be given a pass for what they have wrought. This was not just Bush; it was a destructive, oligarchical movement that has brought untold damage to our institutions and to innumerable lives. Moderate Republican politicians have been dismayed, but they have to pay the price for the public's judgment on their party.

My kid asked me if I thought McCain was better than Bush. I told him the reasons I think McCain is better, but I said that, above all, the Republican party had to be repudiated.

[scorpioleidy]

Uh ............................... thank you?

[4real]

Oh no. Obama being endorsed by someone with a funny sounding name. Palin and Mccane will probably use this one too.

[bolingo]

funny sounding to who?..people with names like joe the plumber?

[wrylass]

Yeah, nothing funny about Wurtzerschnitzelbacker or whatever "Joe"'s name is ...

[tallguy3434]

Fukuyama's The End of History posits that America's brand of capitalism and demacracy is the pragmatic management of people and wealth and the American century is unchallenged. This thinking has gone hog wild with Bush/Cheney. Who would have known that with unlimited power the only Superpower left in this planet would be in the hands of George Bush? The management of superpower status involves intelligence and a sense of history. George Bush is U.S.'s karma. Fjkuyama will be writing , the history of the world will be defined by before GB and after GB. The bottom has not hit yet the GB period will go on for decades and will give rise to the Superpower status of China.

[Modok]

Fukuyama and Greenspan, the two major proponents of Free Range Capitalism both had no idea that absolute power corrupts absolutely? boggle. o.O

[RoXXanne]

"Fukuyama's The End of History posits that America's brand of capitalism and demacracy is the pragmatic management of people and wealth and the American century is unchallenged. This thinking has gone hog wild with Bush/Cheney. Who would have known that with unlimited power the only Superpower left in this planet would be in the hands of George Bush?"

Yeah, that's what he (Fukuyama) wants you to believe, in reality it was a complete absurd assumption to begin with!

Read what Antonio Gramsci wrote about cultural hegemony and you will hopefully begin to understand why Fukuyama ideas never could have worked anyway. It's utter and dangerous NONSENSE!

I wouldn't be surprised when it turns out that his book 'The End of History' only landed on top of the bestseller lists because of 'a little help from his friends'...

[Pupster]

This 'endorsement' shouldn't be misunderstood: Fukuyama is not suddenly changing parties or becoming a liberal. This is not a message meant for us or even for Dems; this is full condemnation of the past eight years of incompetence done under the banner of Republicanism and neo-con philosophy.

Whatever you think of Fukuyama's writings, there is no doubt that he is an intellectual heavyweight in the area of foreign policy and political thinking. My guess is that he issued this statement for two reasons:

1) To reject the utter failure of the Bush policies, which in some regard used Fukuyama as the basis of their actions. He must be disgusted by how Bush and his cronies have completely mucked it up.

2) A rebuke of the direction of Republican Party is taking away from intellectual and conservative rigor towards a populism based on ignorance and hate. It's not that different from what Brooks and Will are saying in their columns.

It's already been reported that the leaders of the Republican Party are meeting after the election to decide what to do within the Party. Some like Kristol and his thugs at the Weekly Standard and the National Review, Buchanan and even Norquist have embraced Sarah Palin as the future of the Party. Can you imagine how horrifying that is to someone like Fukuyama?

This is a warning, to be joined I'm sure by many other of the Repub heavy thinkers that they will not go willingly in that direction.

[Pupster]

I should change my phrase above to "populism based on ignorance and vulgarity." Mostly, because on second thought, I think they are ok with the hate.

Anyway, it's just my 2 cents. The Repubs are gonna have a serious duking out for what they are about and who will run the broken remains. I've got my popcorn ready and my feet up on the coffee table. Should be better than Monday Night Football.

[jcrush]

In a nutshell, you and Fukuyama have described exactly why my voter registration card used to read: Republican and now reads: Democrat, and why I will vote for the second time this year for the next President and First Black President of the United States of America:

Barack Hussein Obama
-- God Bless our next president

OBAMA * 08 * BIDEN


I'm J "Hussein" Crush, and I approve this message.

[wrylass]

The enemy of my enemy is my friend ...

Sure, not all Republicans who are endorsing Obama are doing so on his merits--some are just repudiating the Republican ticket. I say, come one, come all, and welcome.

[GoNitro]

Your points are well taken, Pupster. By and large, conservative intellectuals seem to be unable to stomach the direction that the Republican Party has taken. I interpret their votes for Obama as a repudiation, not a capitulation. But I welcome their votes and am impressed and heartened that Obama has been able to inspire hope for change in people outside the Democratic Party. Isn't that the core of his message, that we're Americans first and forever?

[total frizz]

I do like the concept of not rewarding the party that got us into this mess -- and it didn't happen in the last two years, so hold the arguments on the Dem majority, it doesn't wash.