This bit from a piece called "Meeting the Conservative Challenge" caught my eye:
...when JFK ran for President in 1960 close to 50% of the country identified themselves as Democrats, 30-32% Republican. Our majorities in Congress seemed permanent, and there was broad consensus around the two pillars of the 20th century Democratic Party � liberal internationalism and a post New Deal welfare state. Today, for the first time since FDR was President, more Americans identify themselves as Republicans than Democrats. It is close � 33-34% for the GOP, 32-33% for the Dems � but it represents a gradual, historic shift in American politics. The Republicans have formable majorities in Congress, more control in the states, and have broken the back of our governing consensus.
This is a tangent from the focus of the article, but I've been hearing a lot of noise about the huge spending increases that the Republicans have been shoving through Congress lately, and people commenting on how the party of fiscal responsibility has been spending like a bunch of drunken sailors (that may even be a quote). Now the internationalism thing doesn't fit this, but it occurs to me that either 1) Conservatives buy into the "welfare state" (although that's a loaded term) more than they let on, or 2) Conservatives recognize that people in the US want protection that only the government can offer (there, that's better) and are more interested in staying in office (a.k.a. "winning") than principle.
Posted by Jason at December 4, 2003 01:33 PM