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Buy the Book
Pauken’s Paleo Moment
A former Texas Republican Party chair looks at the conservative politics that might have been.
Bringing America Home: How America Lost Her Way and How We
Can Find Our Way Back
By Tom Pauken
(Chronicles Press, 204 pages, $29.95)
There was a brief period in the 1990s when it looked like the right was going to have a paleo moment. Pat Buchanan barely lost to Bob Dole in Iowa and beat him in New Hampshire. Republican members of Congress were railing against “nation-building” abroad and filing lawsuits to keep Bill Clinton from going to war in the Balkans. And Tom Pauken was the chairman of the Texas Republican Party.
In the following decade, both the Republicans and the conservative movement traveled in a very different direction. There were many reasons for this, of course — Clinton’s presidency came to an end and, with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, so did the post-Cold War “peace dividend.” But Pauken’s rivals in the Texas GOP, George W. Bush and Karl Rove, played a very significant role. Compassionate conservatism replaced government-slashing; soothing rhetoric about faith-based initiatives replaced Buchananesque speeches about the culture war; the “humble foreign policy” of candidate Bush gave way to the president’s Bush Doctrine.
Around the same time Rove published his memoir, Tom Pauken — a Goldwater-era conservative activist who served in the Nixon and Reagan administrations — released his book Bringing America Home, painting a very un-Rovian picture of what the Republican Party and the conservative movement should look like. Pauken might have titled it The Conscience of a Paleoconservative.
The country caught a glimpse of Pauken’s vision last week, when Tea Party insurgent Rand Paul triumphed over GOP establishment favorite Trey Grayson in Kentucky’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. That contest pitted economic and social conservatives against national-security hawks who were unmoved by Paul’s appeals for smaller government — and alarmed by his more restrained view of foreign policy. (Though the firestorm over Paul’s post-election musings about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a reminder of the foot-in-mouth disease that can afflict paleo politicians.)
Bringing America Home is a call to arms for future Rand Pauls: conservatives who were frustrated by the fact that the federal government did not shrink during the Reagan administration or the Republican Revolution and that it grew under the second Bush presidency. But Pauken’s isn’t simply a libertarian treatise. He worries about a coarsened, post-Christian culture. He is similarly concerned about the erosion of the U.S. manufacturing base and the bursting of our bubble economy.
And while Pauken is critical of what he describes as “the neoconservative conquest of American foreign policy,” unlike Paul’s father he does not attribute terrorism against the United States solely to blowback. Pauken acknowledges “militant Islam” and its political ambitions as a threat that can and must be dealt with in a just-war context. “We are engaged in a religious war,” he writes, “not because we wish it to be so, but because our enemies have defined it in those terms.”
Not all of Pauken’s ideas are paleo favorites. The border-adjusted value-added tax, increasingly fashionable among conservatives ranging from heretical author Bruce Bartlett to congressional Republicans’ budget point man Paul Ryan, is likely to work better in theory than in practice. The political objections to a tax that falls so heavily on consumers are obvious. Even so, few VAT countries are low-tax-countries, a fact that ought to give opponents of “big-government conservatism” pause.
Pauken remembers how Republicans rode to victory in the '90s backed by a coalition of tax-cutters, government-shrinkers, gun owners, pro-life activists, and Christian home-schoolers. But once the GOP and its conservative backers reached the Promised Land, the federal leviathan looked less repulsive — bringing to mind an old line about those who denounce Washington as a sewer only to treat it like a hot tub upon their arrival.
Until recently, Pauken’s book might have seemed quaint: a nice counterfactual of what might have happened had Buchanan won the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and empowered his paleoconservative brain trust, but not a practical guide to politics going forward. But the age of Obama has made once again made possible a conservatism more interested in social issues and small government than exporting democracy to the Middle East.
At least such right-wingers can once again claim a place at the table — consider Bill Kristol’s qualified defense of Rand Paul during the Civil Rights Act feeding frenzy. Any paleos who wish to take their seats might also consider reading Pauken’s book.
About the Author
W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (26) | Leave a comment
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Petronius| 5.24.10 @ 9:47AM
The only way that the populace of this country would accept the old fashioned "Conservative" type of governance is in the face of total economic ruin and everything else has been tried and failed.
To wit: most social conservatives lack the means to insulate themselves from the lowlife in society, ergo the quality of their lives is determined by the behavior of those around them. And I am one of them.
To all and singular: if you are a predator, pervert, or parasite, and we get control of the powers of state, you will not live here.
S.L. Toddard| 5.24.10 @ 10:43AM
"The only way that the populace of this country would accept the old fashioned "Conservative" type of governance is in the face of total economic ruin and everything else has been tried and failed."
Petronius, what if it was presented not as the revocation of the big gov't programs (social security, medicare etc) so many rely on, but rather as a federalization of such, with the states picking up the responsibility for their citizenry. There is no reason for New York to not have the universal healthcare its citizens want while Georgia has the private healthcare system its citizens want. Same goes for Social Security, Medicare and so on. This should be presented as consistent with the concept of subsidiarity to conservatives while stressing, to liberals, that - unlike the federal government - when a state taxes its citizens for social security it cannot then use that money to buy bombs to blow up Afghan weddings etc.
AmericaNumberOne!| 5.24.10 @ 12:04PM
"..when a state taxes its citizens for social security it cannot then use that money to buy bombs to blow up Afghan weddings etc."
Wow. Spoken like a true Blame America Firster.
Billy Bob| 5.24.10 @ 3:56PM
I love America, but our politicians have made some bone-headed decisions that have cost many lives, including innocent Americans and foreigners alike.
Still no Bin Laden. Still no Mullah Omar. No WMD's. The Afghanistan war is still raging with no end in sight. Iraq is a mess. Our troops are overextended and worn out. And now they're talking about going to war with Iran with no actual proof of them making nuclear weapons? Did they not learn their lesson from Iraq?
The terrorists will never defeat us. We will defeat ourselves financially though. Enough is enough. You have to ask yourself what we have gotten out of these wars other than major debt. Blindly following what our politicians say, and never questioning them, merely makes you sheep.
Petronius| 5.24.10 @ 9:13PM
The United States of America will not be a free country again unless and until Everybody understands that government is for governance; not support!!! We gladly give to and for those who suffer infirmities. But I defy anyone to tell me that the competent citizen should have his earnings plundered to subsidize the deficiencies of the willfully indolent slackers in our midst who believe the government check comes from "Obama's stash". Grow up!!!
Richard Haden| 5.26.10 @ 2:51AM
Petronius, you read like a wanna be fascist. And as far as you telling whomever where they can live or can't live, for how ever they want to behave you might take your Ayn Rand Junk philosophy and shove it up your pipe dream of a country and smoke it.
Seek| 5.24.10 @ 11:50AM
Petronius:
Are "lowlifes" persons who go to the movies more than to church? If so, count me among them.
Here's the good news: People like you will not control the powers of the state. That's because most Americans know a totalitarian when they see one. You can live in your Poltiically Koresh ghetto for the remainder of your days. Nobody will vote for your kind.
Harry the Horrible| 5.24.10 @ 3:19PM
Petronius was pretty specific about lowlifes: Predator, Pervert or Parasite.
Which type are you?
Seek| 5.24.10 @ 5:50PM
None of the above. But I suppose it's all a matter of definition. The problem with radical reactionaries is that they cast a wide net.
Harry the Horrible| 5.24.10 @ 6:43PM
Neah.
That's just liberal bigotry.
Mostly we like to be left alone. We have better things to do - family, books, NASCAR, hunting, fishing, books, etc.
Seek| 5.24.10 @ 7:21PM
Funny, I like to left alone, too. I like family, NASCAR, books and all the other good things in life. The problem is that so do a lot of people likely to be retroactively defined as "perverts", etc. in a new culture war order. That's not "bigotry" on my part; it's a concern for liberty. And I'm a libertarian.
Richard Haden| 5.26.10 @ 2:53AM
Harry, its really none of your business what people behave like. The only low life for sure is an idiot like Petronius who thinks he the high King of the fascist Kangaroo court.
Petronius| 5.24.10 @ 9:43PM
S
You're wasting money on inane entertainment is of no concern. And you are right for the wrong reasons. I care not what you believe, but how you behave around me and mine.
If this country was governed by real conservatives all citizens would have to lead disciplined well ordered lives to establish and maintain themselves in Our society, becoming economically independent and Free. Without entitlement programs the indolent, ignorant, and incompetent would have to bide elsewhere on planet Earth. This is why our country would never elect the Cromwellian leadership we need to spank all the overgrown babies who voted for Obama and send them to bed without wellfare checks. We will have to hit bottom first.
Gr0w1er| 5.24.10 @ 12:54PM
"...those who denounce Washington as a sewer only to treat it as a hot upon their arrival..."
It may be an old line but it still fits.
Thom| 5.24.10 @ 6:06PM
Every time I hear Conservatism sliced and diced into things called Neo-, Paleo-, two things come to mind almost immediately. The first that “a house divided will not stand” and the second that I should have taken anthropology in college apparently.
As best I can determine the various flavors of “conservatism” as typically defined by the enemies of conservatism, the Paleo’s being isolationists on one extreme typified by the Pat Buchanan cult see a large deterrent only but unaffordable military force to use as the way to go while the Neos are the chicken hawks on the other extreme who see a small but affordable military force to use as a force for good. Somewhere in the middle reality probably lives to wit, the forces Reagan sent into Lebanon weren’t up for the task due to lack of realistic training vs the modernized (not enlarged) one at the end of his 2nd term cost this nation 388 billion a year in 1988 dollars and walked over Iraqi forces with impunity in 1990. 20 years later we are spending nearly twice as much for a force half that size in unadjusted monies (and not counting actual ongoing operational cost of these conflicts) and don’t have the manpower to subdue two third world brush conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan after years at it. We repeated this formula for failure in both Korea and Vietnam.
While I understand the allure and virtues of the 17th century philosophy that underpins isolationism and ultimately the resultant passivism it breeds, the virtues of that ceased to have any real world meaning when German Zeppelins starting dropping bombs on England in the first World War of the last century. Things have gotten a whole lot worse since then simply due to technological advances that we lead the way on btw. On the flip side, this defensive war concept or “light footprint” as it is called now has shown that it has always been the receipt for failure every time it has been tried as far back in time as there are records. From my perspective, both extremes of this anthropology need to do some real research on “war” and leave the unproven theories to the Climate frauds.
Somewhere between this belief that we can isolate ourselves from world events in this day and age and the illusion that what used to be a single “Corps” of forces can control events on the ground in places the size of Iraq and Afghanistan, we are running a serious risk of finding ourselves over committed on too many fronts with too few forces against a capable and determined enemy not like we’ve seen since WWII. The Paleos seem comfortable with letting places like Israel, the greater Gulf area, Pakistan, the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan go to hell and somehow we won’t suffer crippling economic loss when the world’s economy is thrown into chaos from disruption of 40% of the world’s supply of oil and trade. Pulling all our forces home and letting the world go to hell in a hand basket in the age of nuclear weapons and means to deliver them is not a virtue of conservatism in any shape or form. It didn’t work in the 17th century either. The Neos on the other hand don’t seem to grasp that if you are going to have a “war” the only objective is to win it decisively, quickly and make damn sure there is no mixed messages from the sacrifices made. It helps to understand the virtues of Plan B-Z and not having more commitments than forces. If you don’t have the forces, aren’t committed to win you probably shouldn’t get involved as we did in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan. If the unfinished business of North Korea breaks out again, the folly of this small “affordable” military force will be shown for what it has always been, an illusion. We had a very small affordable military force on Dec 7th , 1941 before 8:30 AM Hawaiian time too and we had been building for a war most people knew was coming for over two years. Isolation didn’t protect us then and a small “affordable” military force didn’t win that war either.
Somewhere between what are billed polar opposites a common truth has to exist. Both extremes have proven to be folly when put to the test. We live in dangerous times. Enough with theories and wishful thinking as a foreign policy. The house of Conservatism will fall if it does not find the common ground that binds us to common values, language and culture. Conservatism is not a pie to be sliced up in divide and conquer games for the delight of the King. Now is not the time for nostalgia over a time that never existed.
Thorvald| 5.24.10 @ 7:11PM
Anyone who thinks it's our fault Muslim terrorists (or any other, for that matter) attack us is worse than stupid: he is a danger to me and my children. That's the way I see it, and I am armed.
On the other hand, anyone who thinks the weak and flabby Rove is not not secretly a Democrat is smoking rope.
Monitor| 5.25.10 @ 12:48AM
I don't think many paleos want a seat at any table where the stench of the Israel Lobby and AIPAC espionage is so overpowering. Paleoconservatism is for Americans only this time. Time for the neocons to go home to Trotskyism, Israel, or wherever the hell they came from in the first place.
GW| 5.25.10 @ 1:24AM
And we get to the heart of the issue. It's the "Joos" fault.
Sam H| 5.25.10 @ 11:59PM
Just a couple of thoughts...
Thanks to American men and women and many brave Iraqis, Iraq is far from a "mess." If you really want to see a "mess" in the region, might I suggest Iran, Syria, Egypt, the areas controlled by Hamas and Hezbollah or pretty much any Muslim nation in Africa.
Is Iraq perfect? No, far from it. But I will stand and fight with most any Iraqi as opposed to most any continental Euro-trash.
For Iraqis have stared evil in the face, blinked, regrouped and fought it head on.
And they have kicked ass.
Lay off of Iraq and Iraqis and give them a chance for God's sake.
And, are you really serious about no WMDs? Really?
NYteacher| 5.27.10 @ 10:59AM
Sam exposes his utter ignorance in stating that perrenially-explosive Iraq, with daily bombings and perpetual fear, not to mention the landscape being reduced to rubble, is better off than the tightly-controlled but non-bombed Iran, Syria or Egypt...
It is the buffons like Sam who whip the masses into blind battles -- courtesy of the Oil oligarchies. That Sam further concludes by asseritng that we found WMDs confirm the "Mission-Accomplished" retardedness of his sinister elk.
AmCon has no place for the intellectually-challenged.
Whitey Lawful | 9.3.10 @ 1:08PM
Pop-culture awaits benelvent dicatators and marketing from the the t.v... Paleos' are the whitemen and exceptions that are socially offensive -- due to their sociological circumstances as bigots. It was the whitemans' autonomy -- that made him supreme.