"Frightened" David Frum Quits National Review

NY Times:

In a span of 252 days, the National Review lost two Buckleys -- one to death, another to resignation -- and an election. ...

Now David Frum, a prominent conservative writer who enmeshed himself in a minor dustup during the campaign by turning negative on Governor Palin, is leaving, too. In an interview, he said he planned to leave the magazine, where he writes a popular blog, to strike out on his own on the Web. ...

"I am really and truly frightened by the collapse of support for the Republican Party by the young and the educated," he said.

Read the whole story: NY Times

Comments

[chronic]

Smell that?


Its the repubic party up in smoke!!! BURN BABY BURN!!!

[Lagniappe]

OOH, I love the perfumed smoke of mendacity in the morning... . GRILL,BABY,GRILL!

[limonista]

He creeps me out. Fish face freak.

[chronic]

LOL hes a coward just like all the rest!

[Krikkit]

Chicken war-hawk.

[Appleton]

Mr. Frum's fears are well founded. Richard Nixon recognized that southern Democrats unhappy with civil rights legislation were ripe for Republican picking. Republicans later began courting conservative evangicals, most of whom are fearful of science and social change. The result of this forty year effort is a party dominated by anti-intellectuals and assorted bigots. How could thoughtful Republicans (I am willing to concede that they do exist) expect to attract minorities and educated people with a political philosophy heavily weighted toward walling in our borders, incorporating conservative religious doctrines into our laws, marginalizing disfavored minority groups (such as gays) and applauding jingoistic war-making and torture as patriotic? Republicans wanted the South. They got it. Now that's all they've got. What is surprising is not that Republicans have painted themselves into an absurd ideological corner, but that they didn't see it coming. As a Democrat, I do not particularly care about the Republicans' current plight, but it would certainly be better for the country in the long run if their party reminded Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Malkin and the entire Fox network that while pandering to fear and ignorance may bring in fat advertising checks, it is useless for anything else.

[gorideabike]

That is the best post today, Appleton. Very clear and logical.

[Lagniappe]

I agree. Its hard to attract expanded minds with constricted ,tunnelvision policies and platforms.

[BarackstarObama]

After the despicable way he treated Rachel on her show a few weeks ago, I have no respect for that guy.

[GingerB]

She put him in his place masterfully.

[S1m0n]

Call this one "excess of evil".

[tbone99]

“I am really and truly frightened by the collapse of support for the Republican Party by the young and the educated,”Frum said.

AWWwww- why don't I feel any sympathy?

[jayjaga]

Barack Obama's comments: "Why do these folks take pride in ignorance?" The chickems are now coming home to roost.

[erincnyc]

because anyone smarter than me makes me feel stupid. so I just hate you and I feel all warm and fuzzy about my idiot self. hallayouyay! oh, I spelt that wrong? double hallayouyay!

[SkuddGobang]

Wow. Young, smart people start to leave your party in tatters and now you're scared.

Scared of... what? Looking like even more of a loser than you are?

[skibiketrash]

He is scared because what he is left with are the ones making the death threats.

[chronic]

Exactly!!!

[erincnyc]

they left a long time ago, please stop miscateregorizing folks. Thanks.

[chronic]

Exactly!

[Betsy]

The American people are fed up with the GOP and would like to see many of them behind bars. We've been lied to, spied on, wiretapped, and robbed in broad daylight. "Thanks, but no thanks!"

[Tommygun2146]

Rats, sinking ship, yada yada yada...

[majorteddy]

And the older educated. Anybody with half a functioning brain is deserting the U.S.S. Republican before it goes down. Steamers are outmoded .

[socialtalker]

as much as i dislike the GOP, the fact is they lost the popular vote by only 4 or 5 points. and the TRUE fact of the matter, this is still, unfortunately, a two-party system, as long as this is the case, the rep-con party can come back in as little as two years. the rep party got where it is the last twenties years because it unspokenly represented whites, and if the time comes whites feel threatened or overwhelmed in some way, they will go back the rep party again.

[majorteddy]

Their core constituency is the over 55 voters where they are favored these are dying at a rate of 2.1 million per year . They vote Republican 60/40. They are being directly replaced by voters 18-22 who vote Obama 66/33. A net swing of well over a million votes per year. Ouch! Ouch ! and Ouch !

[erincnyc]

If whites, like me, and also a PUMA, felt threatened, this would have been the presidential election year to voice that feeling. That is why everyone is saying the Rep party is dead. Don't you get it? The GOP no longer represents "whites." The GOP now only represents right wing radicals who like to blow up pregnant women wishing to not be pregnant. The GOP now only represents people who wish that people who love each other cannot be married. Think before you type.

[protagonia]

They are now ignorant and violent, being led like dogs into terrible deeds by the TV and radio.

[hardlyhikin]

"I am really and truly frightened by the collapse of support for the Republican Party by the young and the educated,” Frum said.

For the last three presidential election cycles the Republican­s/conserva­tives/reli­gious right - whatever label you wish to assign them - have sought to dumb down discussion to a bunch of bumper sticker sound bites; why would Frum expect anything other than collapse of support from the educated? A party that treats an educated electorate as "elitist" deserves the pond scum bottom dwellers they have courted and who now make up the "core" of their party.

A party that considers a 44 year old woman who can't utter a complete sentence as a major contender for their party's presidential nomination in 2012 deserves what they get.

[StillIRise]

Very well stated.

[erincnyc]

They have never had the educated. Higher levels of education has always been positively correlated to higher levels of liberalism. Just as positive economic growth is positively correlated to Democratic leadership in the last century. Nixon was the last great Republican, whose policies had positive economic and foreign policy results/progress. That means that you have to ignore his racism, sexism, anti-semitism, and his penchant for recording the preceding characteristics on tape. Oh, and also, his thievery of his opponent's office supplies/info and his list of enemies to be watched by the FBI. Oh, oh, and the lies. Well, unfortunately, the last old style Republican went down in flames. Now, the rethugs just use sound-bites and hate to spout their platform. And hate of smart people, aka the elite, is number one on their hit list. Consequently, educated people smell who dealt it, and want nothing to do with such. Guess what? Educated people know stuff. Like how to run a country. Welcome back the United States of America. We elite love all of you! We don't have any money, thanks to your votes for W. But we have large heads and big student loan debts that earned us our elite status. But we are pulling for all of us.

[erincnyc]

Foreclose on my brain, I dare you!

[3dtrix]

Last great Republican? How young you must be...

[Carolab]

Really interesting piece from Think Progress:

As ThinkProgress has chronicled, conservative pundits and even some traditional journalists continue to insist that America remains a center-right nation. Today in a Washington Post op-ed, Hoover Institution fellow and former informal adviser to the McCain campaign Tod Lindberg rebuts this myth:

Here’s the stark reality: It is now harder for the Republican presidential candidate to get to 50.1 percent than for the Democrat. My Hoover Institution colleague David Brady and Douglas Rivers of the research firm YouGovPolimetrix have been analyzing data from online interviews with 12,000 people in both 2004 and 2008. It shows an overall shift to the Democrats of six percentage points. As they write in the forthcoming edition of Policy Review, “The decline of Republican strength occurs by having strong Republicans become weak Republicans, weak Republicans becoming independents, and independents leaning more Democratic or even becoming Democrats.­” This is a portrait of an electorate moving from center-right to center-left.

Lindberg acknowledges that “the percentage of voters describing themselves as ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ has held relatively constant over many election cycles.” However, he notes that “the views behind those labels” have shifted to be more liberal.


http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/16/hoover-center-left/

[Hare]

Good points but I will add that "the views behind those labels" have shifted to be more in tune with reality.

[RiggsMD]

When conservative journalist resign, retire or just plain give-up due to the parties disarray, you know you're in bad shape.