David Brooks: Conservative Movement Has "No Leaders," "No Coherent Belief System," In A "World Of Pain"

Conservative columnist David Brooks envisions very tough times ahead for conservatives. On "Face the Nation" this morning, Brooks says the conservative movement has "no leaders," is in a "world of pain," and lacks a "coherent belief system." Watch a clip from the show (via ThinkProgress).

Comments

[BlackWidowPilot]

"and lacks a "coherent belief system." "

I beg to differ, Mr. Brooks. The GOP does indeed have a coherent belief system; cronyism, corruption, avarice, and hypocrisy upheld as Christian virtue.

Hypocrisy, thy name remains GOP. Boss Tweed would be proud.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[ultrabop]

Basically just go down the 10 commandments and perform the opposite. That is their creed. If it's immoral and hurtful or painful, then do it. They are the Anti-Christ.

[BlackWidowPilot]

You've no idea:

http://www.armchairsubversive.org

"Party of conservative Christian family values" only if one means the locals in THE HILLS HAVE EYES, but that's about it.

Yeeeach.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[timetorevolt]

Put the last nail in the coffin by making Sarah Palin the head of the party.

[KoolBreez]

I think there already is 'Democrates for Palin' movement going on.. Lot of Democrate want Sarah Palin as the head of the opposition.

[spicehandler]

I was LMAO reading the conservative blogs all rah-rah-ing for Sarah, most claiming she was the BEST THING about their ticket and the reason they got as many votes as they did. And one lone naysayer comments: "Forget Palin. If we try to run her in 2012 SNL will just pull Tina Fey out of the woodwork again."

They apparently think that, but for Tina Fey, it would've been McCain as POTUS now...

[SouthernBlueBelle]

Oh yes, we have lost the great one, Ronald Reagan. Give me a break, he was an actor and he played the part of president on tv. He ruled by committee, the RNC.

[Pacific231]

Required Reading on the future of the Republican Party: Is history about to repeat itself? Sure hope so for America's sake:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/11/10/echoes_of_fillmore_and_the_gop_know_nothings/

[FirstShirt]

See, this is what you get when you listen to the east coast elite media.

In Indiana the democrats took the state presidency for the first time since 1964.

What these pundits don't apparently know is that the republican governor was reelected with an overwhelming majority. Democratic crossover to republicans big time.

He has presided over a budget surplus after decades of democratic budget deficits. How he did it should become a foundation for conservatism in the 21st Century.

Also, all incumbents including republicans were reelected.

so much for Obama's coattails.

[PATina]

That's what happens when you GOVERN well. He was re-elected because he was a GOOD Governor..­. not because he was a REPUBLICAN or DEMOCRATIC Governor.

[swift goat pet for truth]

I do not follow Indiana politics.
However, Obama taking Indiana AT ALL is stunning to me.
I would have bet a whole lot of money it would go Bush... er... McCain.

But I am curious about magnitude. Always GOPers ignore magnitude and trends.

So, how big were the margins this time, versus the last election?
How did the younger voters vote?

Also, Indiana IS VERY culturally conservative. No one expects it to change in a just a few years.

[BlackWidowPilot]

Indiana? My ex and her family were from Indiana. Land of Bible thumping hypocrisy upheld as Christian virtue, where ignorance is seen as intellectual prowess and there's more Red than a May day parade under Iosef Stalin.

No surprises there.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[chb 2208]

As a resident of Indiana since 1965, I can tell you that there were REVERSE coattails for John McCain. It was the Republican­/Independe­nt crossover to vote for Obama that was in effect.
For all of my adult life, I've had to watch my state turn red 15 seconds after the polls closed. Now, with Obama's ground game in effect (44 statewide offices opened vs. 1 for McCain), we did something here that makes me PROUD to be a "Hoosier"!

[Fabienne]

Across the country, the Dems gained Senators, Representatives, Governors and state legislatures. Just because they didn't do so in Indiana doesn't mean Obama had no coattails.

[Secure214]

Republicans can't win if all they say is "we don't want this group or that group in our party."

It adds up to too many groups of people, and no one is left.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Nah.

White cultural conservatives are left.
By GOPer count, that is a huge majority.

[Mewcatone]

I've been saying this for months now. By alienating everyone that isn't exactly like them they reduce the appeal of their party. Here's just a short list of those they've alienated so far... immigrants, gays, blacks, non-Christians, Christians who aren't Christian enough, pro-choice, those who want gun-control, those who believe in climate change, those who live in big cities... I'm sure the list goes on and on. The number of people they've alienated is getting larger than the number of members in their own party. They will have to move more to the center if they want their party to survive.

[schoolmaster]

It is obvious.

[Lexica]

The "belief system" of the Conservatives was, "I got mine, too bad about you".

So, how's that workin' for ya', Brooks & friends?

[mrJJ]

The Republican Conservati­ves/Social­ist movement at work with taxpayer money....

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aatlky_cH.tY&refer=worldwide

[ferdly]

I like David Brooks essentially, he is a thinking man's conservative (and what he said about the Palin Cancer is so true). However, I have become increasingly annoyed by him telling Obama to tamp down his expectations. That he can do One thing (short term stimulus) or the Other (energy, infrastructure, education). He is being very narrow. Obama, amazingly, can see long-term as he acts short-term. *If* you are going to spend on stimulus -- why now spend on putting in an updated electrical grid which is 1) provides jobs; 2) is better than unemployment; and 3) is a step along the long-term path of a new Green Economy (or as Friedman calls it the ET Revolution [Energy Technology]). As Obama said to Rachel Maddow, "If you are going to have huge deficits, you might as well have something to show for it afterwards!"

[stop the politics]

I think the main problem conservatives have is that they have become intertwined with the Republican Party. People tend to think that Republicans and conservatives are one in the same. They are not. George Bush (both the father and the son) are not and were not conservatives. They ran as Republicans, and called themselves compassionate conservatives, but they are not conservatives. Conservatives believe in following the Constitution. A small federal government with individual and states’ rights. The 10th Amendment is very important to true conservatives. To illustrate, take abortion and Roe v Wade. A true conservative disagrees with Roe v Wade not on the abortion issue, but on the fact that the issue should be resolved by each individual state. The conservative belief is that the Constitution does not specifically grant or prohibit abortion, therefore, the 10th Amendment leaves it to the individual states to decide the issue. Many other issues bother conservatives because of the belief that the federal government has overstepped its power.
The problem conservatives have is that people claim to be conservatives, or the media portrays them as conservative (like it did with George W. Bush and tried to do with John McCain) when they are not actually conservatives. As long as conservatives remain intertwined with the Republican Party and allow non-conservatives, including the neocons, to claim that they are conservatives they will have problems.

[demigod]

This is a lie concerning abortion - the conservatives believe abortion, and other issues like gun control, can be more easily defeated at the state level, where large employers and right wing organizations more directly control the political landscape. They want 50 states to outlaw abortion, nothing less is their goal. This is why the "Right to Life" organizations have offices in all 50 states and work actively to coerce their way into every aspect of local government, the school system (sex education), and health care system. This is also why the conservatives loathe a strong judiciary, the so called "activist judges" because a single court decision can derail their "stacked deck" mentality. The conservatives may have coopted the Republican Party, but it was no struggle, only a shift of program content. The "big tent" has always been an illusion in the Republican Party, the tent only being made larger to accommodate more like-minded thinkers, not different ideas. Pro-choice or gay people will never have a home in the Republican Party, neither will organized workers, universal health supporters, gun control activists, or church-state separatists. There is no "democracy" in the Republican party, as John McCain demonstrated when he reversed almost every stand he ever took to become the Republican nominee.

[stop the politics]

I think you are mistaking conservatives with neo-cons. They are very different. In many ways, neo-cons have taken the worst from the conservatives, liberals, Republicans, and Democrats and combined it into one group. Real conservatives are not like this. Yes, some conservatives may personally want abortion banned in all states, but other conservatives are pro-choice. I personally know many conservatives that are pro-choice and many that are pro-life. Just like I know liberals that are pro-choice and pro-life. The important idea to the conservative is that if the power is not specifically granted to the federal government it rests with the states and the people. The neo-cons are more interested in power. They do whatever it takes to stay in power. Unfortunately for us, there are groups like this on both sides of the aisle.
The reason real conservatives do not like the so called activist judges is the belief that a judge’s job is to apply the law, not make new law. Conservatives would rather have the people make the law. They may not agree with the law, but a conservative is much happier if it is decided by the elected officials in the legislature than the non-elected (or in some states elected) judiciary.
I think you are right that pro-choice, gay, and other groups will not have a true home in the Republican Party as long as the neo-cons or others like them are in power.

[jsgaetano]

"no leaders," lacks a "coherent belief system...

Isn't that what everyone has been saying about conservatives for the past 30 years?

Whoever thought it would be a great idea to base your entire belief system on being contrarian to everything the Democratic Party stands for was a lunatic... and sadly, the far right insanity managed to fully capture the hatemonger demographic.

The GOP truly is a "big tent:- whether you are a white supremecist, a theocrat working to bring about the End of Days, or just a fraudster trying to grab billions in government money though influential friends... there's a place for you in the GOP.

[LeeCalif]

Right. But he voted for and promoted this ruse on the American public.

Another Ratb*stard Republican with no integrity.

[Jay1960]

I think conservatives have lost what they stand for because they became to intertwined with the religious right. Instead of less government, they only want less government as it applies to business and market constraints. They want more government when it involves speech, what you do in your bedroom, reproduction, etc... The quandary they have is they claim to be pro-life and pro-war. Less government and more government. Balanced Budget and lower taxes. They are hypocrites who need to stand for something other than blowing up abortion clinics and reducing taxes at the expense of future generations.

[McLacy]

Don't forget about the Senate run-off election in GA - Dems could get to 60 majority if Frankin and Jim Martin win and Ted Stevens loses. Go to Jim Martin's website and donate or volunteer to get out the vote!

http://www.martinforsenate.com/