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John Podhoretz had a different reaction to Michael Gerson's column than I did. I think most of his criticisms are fair. Gerson does conflate economic and social liberalism without looking at Giuliani's actual economic record. And since when was Gerson such a foe of big-government conservatism anway? When its face is Nixonian rather than compassionate?

But Podhoretz leaves untouched what I took to be Gerson's main point: a willingness to stick one's thumb in the eyes of the cultural left isn't the same thing as serious social conservatism, and social conservatives who support Giuliani because the ACLU doesn't like him ought to realize this fact.

topics:
Conservatism