Ross Douthat Cements His Position as Second-Douchiest "Conservative" Pundit in America
Of course the douchiest just so happens to be the other house "conservative" at the left-wing "newspaper of record". But Douthat is determined to give Brooks a run for his money:
... Rick Perry has many of the qualities that Romney seems to lack: backbone, core convictions, a killer instinct and a primal understanding of the right-wing electorate. He also has the better story. Where Romney has to run away from his Massachusetts health care bill and downplay his years as a downsizing artist at Bain Capital, Perry can spend the campaign reminding voters that almost half of the new jobs in Obama’s presidency were created on his watch in Texas.Give it a rest, Ross. The guy who's been governor of New Jersey for all of 5 minutes (less time on the job, actually, than your favorite whipping girl, Sarah Palin, had as Governor of Alaska) has no intention of stepping in to save you elitists from having to suffer through yet another "red-state rube" from Texas as the GOP nominee.
What Perry doesn’t have, though, is the kind of moderate facade that Americans look for in their presidents. He’s the conservative id made flesh, with none of the postpartisan/uniter-not-a-divider spirit that successful national politicians usually cultivate.
Imagine if the Democratic Party nominated a combination of Al Franken and Nancy Pelosi for the presidency, and you have a sense of the kind of gamble Republicans would be taking with Perry. And even if that gamble worked, little in his record suggests that he’s prepared to preside over a polarized country, or negotiate his way through a divided Washington.
[...]
So whose door should Republicans be knocking on instead? Unless Mitch Daniels changes his mind or Jeb Bush changes his last name, the only compelling possibility remaining is Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.
Labels: Ivory Tower Elitists, Media, RINOs
posted by Pro Ecclesia 7:38 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Has Douthat ever had a non-conventional thought?
Well, and what I don't get is, having lived under Perry's governorship for seven years: What exactly is it about him that's so partisan and divisive. (Other than simply being Texan.)
Yeah, Texas is a very strongly red state, and Perry ran it as such, but I didn't get the impression that he was some sort of over-the-top conservatives conservative.
If anything, he seems like a safe, establishment sort of pick. Christie (by virtue of being in a heavily blue state) has made far more waves (and thus enemies) than Perry. And while I would _love_ to see a Christie candidacy some day, I don't see that he's ready yet.
I'm not crazy about Perry, but he seems like a safe, reliable kind of pick. Which in a year in which being credible next to the disaster that is Obama is the main task, is a good thing.
If Brooks and Douthat are first and second, David Frum's got a lock on third.
And Douthat needs to spend more time among the purists over at Hot Air. The rabble there's ready to tar and feather Perry for his immigration stance and HPV mandate. Moderate nothing, according to them, he's a librul.
Frum gets the gold, Brooks the silver and I think Douthat finishes just outside of the medals.
Let's not be sexist and forget Kathleen Parker--a bronze for her.
Frum exists now solely to be a soundbite for liberals eager to spin "fratricidal" conservative clashes. IIRC, the last time he actually criticized a liberal was some time in 2009, and it was minor at that.
Brooks' grotesque sycophancy is hard to beat normally, but at least he has had some moderate criticism of the administration of late.
Parker got recognition solely for slagging Palin.
I think Douthat is very solid on the social issues, but he's a little too shy about the "how will it play with independents" angle.
And Perry is starting with a couple of minor red-meat stumbles out of the gate. Time to get his campaign voice in gear: QE3 would not be "treasonous" (for. Pete's. Sake.), but it certainly would devalue the dollar and make things more expensive and tougher for the struggling. That's the message he needs to project--and does in his first commercial.
I don't think your description of what Perry said is quite accurate. In a statement full of obvious (and intentional) hyperbole, he said that manipulating QE3 for political purposes would be "ALMOST treasonous". The context and the actual point he was making amakes a BIG difference.
Besides, in a silly season where the sitting Vice President refers to his political opponents as "terrorists" and his boss is currently on a bus tour calling into question the patriotism of the GOP with a meme about their putting party before country, Perry's alleged "gaffe" seems tame by comparison (and I don't even think it's a gaffe).
Finally, I'm tired of the namby pamby way that establishment Republicans play the "Please like me" game. I am decidedly NOT a fan of Perry, but have reluctantly come around to supporting him precisely BECAUSE he doesn't f*ck around with the civility nonsense. He plays to win, and there is a long trail of strong opponents who were supposed to take Perry out that are instead currently politically unemployed. In this political and economic climate, I WANT him out there roughing up Obama and his minions. I'm supporting him precisely because he has what the last several Republican nominees did not have: a killer instinct and a will to win.
(He actually reminds me a LOT of Bill Clinton, which is both a good and bad thing - but, in the end, Clinton was the 2nd most successful President of my lifetime, and there are worse political models for Perry to follow.)
"killer instinct"? If Perry has the moral strength to support truth, all the more power to him.
"Douchiest": I like that neologism.
Jay:
Yeah, I stand corrected on that. Still, he has to beware of being "soundbitten" to death over the next few months--if he hasn't absorbed what happened to Palin, he's going to have a lot of trouble.
Oh, and here's another argument for putting Ms. Parker in the medals:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/enter-rick-dubya-perry/2011/08/16/gIQATvYYJJ_blog.html?wprss=post-partisan
He does need to be mindful of the soundbites, but I think this instance is actually a win for him. He comes down on the side of protecting our currency from a clearly ineffectual Fed chairman, and in doing so, puts the Administration in the position of defending the Fed, as well as creating some separation between himself and the "Bushie" establishment.
Yeah, I'm beginning to warm to the "fightiness" of the man, to coin an idiotic term. He's a very canny political tactician, and I'm starting to see what he's trying to do.
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