A conservative’s case for Obama
(posted by Libby Spencer)
Wick Allison is an old school conservative with impeccable creds.
In 1964, at the age of 16, I organized the Dallas County Youth for Goldwater. My senior thesis at the University of Texas was on the conservative intellectual revival in America. Twenty years later, I was invited by William F. Buckley Jr. to join the board of National Review. I later became its publisher.
He’s as horrified as any astute observer about how the neo-conservatives have hijacked his party under the Bush administration. In a piece written for his own D Magazine he says, “This kind of conservatism, which is not conservative at all, has produced financial mismanagement, the waste of human lives, the loss of moral authority, and the wreckage of our economy that McCain now threatens to make worse.” He goes on to lament that conservatism as a cause is dead, but he sees hope for its basic ideology in Barack Obama.
Barack Obama is not my ideal candidate for president. (In fact, I made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries, when there was still hope he might come to his senses.) But I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history. I disagree with him on many issues. But those don’t matter as much as what Obama offers, which is a deeply conservative view of the world. Nobody can read Obama’s books (which, it is worth noting, he wrote himself) or listen to him speak without realizing that this is a thoughtful, pragmatic, and prudent man. It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.
Most important, Obama will be a realist. I doubt he will taunt Russia, as McCain has, at the very moment when our national interest requires it as an ally. The crucial distinction in my mind is that, unlike John McCain, I am convinced he will not impulsively take us into another war unless American national interests are directly threatened.
I found myself surprised to be more in agreement with Mr. Allison than I am with most of the progressive community. I’ve never believed Obama would advance progressive causes and I find the idea that he is the “most liberal” Senator in America laughable. Obama seems to me to more aligned with old school conservatism than the current GOP power brokers.
Many hard core progressives appear to find this a nearly fatal flaw, lamenting Obama’s lack of ideological purity. I see it as his greatest strength and like Mr. Allison, believe he’s exactly the right man at the right time to lead us through what will likely become the greatest social upheaval we’ve faced since the Great Depression, because of his moderate conservatism.
I guess my question today is, as we assemble here at AOTP to explore ways we can work together to foster systemic changes in our government, is there a place at our table for conservatives like Wick Allison? Speaking for myself, he’s welcome to sit next to me, at mine.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
In a word: yes! Or at least probably. But then again, paleo-conservatives (and I’m not familiar enough with Wick Allison to say he qualifies as one) have always been pretty close to libertarian. The biggest difference, probably, has been a greater willingness to legislate morality (although they’re not as hyperfocused on doing so), and a more isolationist - than - noninterventionist stance on foreign policy and trade policy.
I haven’t thought about this much, but I could even see paleo-conservatives acting as something of a “bridge” between liberals and libertarians, while I could see libertarians simulataneously acting as a “bridge” between liberals and paleo-conservatives.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:03 am
That’s what I’m thinking Mark. If we could form a large enough coalition around our common ground, maybe we could actually change something.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:47 am
“This kind of conservatism, which is not conservative at all…”
In fact, neo-conservatism as currently preached and practiced might better be called fascism.
October 7th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Does he have a place at my table?
When he says, “This kind of conservatism, which is not conservative at all, has produced financial mismanagement, the waste of human lives, the loss of moral authority, and the wreckage of our economy that McCain now threatens to make worse.”
Sure he does.
I also don’t think Obama is the progressive wand wielding wizard wielding that liberals believe him to be.
Yours and Allison’s thoughts on his competence are accurate.