Ezra Klein has a
column out arguing against the idea that conservatism won in
this year's election. I would agree with that, but only to a
certain extent. Conservatism may not have won this year, but it
didn't lose either, because it wasn't on the ballot-nor was
liberalism. This was not an ideological election pitting
conservatives who want to get government off of people's backs
against liberals who believe that more government is the solution
to people's problems.
This election came down to corruption and national security.
Corruption, like runaway spending, was a symptom of the illness
that infected a Republican Party that had fallen in love with power
and betrayed its core principles. National security still decided
the third election in a row, but this year the climate was more
favorable to Democrats. In 2004, most of those who identified Iraq
as the most important issue voted for John Kerry, while most of
those who cited terrorism voted for President Bush. This time
around, because the War in Iraq had become more unpopular, more
people identified Iraq as their most important issue and voted
overwhelmingly Democratic and those who identified terrorism as the
most important issue cast their votes more equally for both
parties.
Any attempt to interpret this election as a win or loss for
conservatism or a win or a loss for liberalism is a mistake in my
view.
For more on why I think conservatism didn't lose on Tuesday and why
liberalism didn't win, click
here.
topics:
Iraq, Conservatism
