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In a recent column George Will declared, "Barry is back." The parade of prominent Republicans such as Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger at the party's recent convention, he said, demonstrated a return to Barry Goldwater conservatism.

This would be conservatism without the religious fanaticism on which the movement has leaned for winning elections since at least the Reagan administration.

Although I fear what he saw was a staged appeal to calm the party's moderates (look at the party platform, not the lineup of speakers), I hope Will is right.

I realize that a return to classical Goldwater conservatism (Goldwater was left behind as the party turned to policies of religious and social intolerance) might put the party in a more competitive footing. I don't agree with conservative positions. Will described the movement as "muscular foreign policy backing unapologetic nationalism; economic policies of low taxation and light regulation; a libertarian inclination regarding cultural questions."

However, I'd rather have a rational debate over the merits of these positions than the irrational brawl that the current Republican extremism has produced. Discussion ends when one side claims to be backed by an absolute deity. That simple act of basing law on religious doctrine ends the honorable American experiment in self-government.

We can disagree on whether response to aggression should be unilateral or multilateral. We can discuss whether low taxation and light regulation is truly the best goal for the whole of American society or simply for the highest paid and most wealthy.

Traditional conservatives need to regain control of their flagship party or it will rip apart. What Will did not mention was that the protests during the convention were not all sponsored by competing political party members. Republicans have their own rifts of dissension and they are deep.

Both major parties attract radical or unwholesome movements from time to time. In the middle of the 20th Century, as Will mentioned, the Democrats secured its dominant position by embracing the segregationists. Once better minds led the party to support civil rights and voting rights that element moved to the Republican Party.

It was the genius of a few Republican leaders to notice that many of these newcomers were religious zealots and were beginning to form a powerful voting block. Ignoring the lessons of history they crafted an appeal to this group of intolerance. They were bitten by the desire to win even at the expense of their core principles.

The parties don't matter in the end. Voting for the party offering an agenda of intolerance of others is a mistake. Republicans uneasy about the extremism in their party should abstain or vote for John Kerry to aide their fellow moderates in refocusing the party. Certainly Democrats, believing in expanding liberty to all citizens, providing a healthy environment and protecting against the too frequent abuse of power, as well as leading the world as a powerful partner rather than snobbish bully, these Democrats should support John Kerry and work hard to keep the party on these worthwhile goals.

posted by Unknown at 11:16 AM