Politics: Next Time We Must Do Better

Through this campaign season, many Republican primary voters have asked the question: “Is Candidate X conservative enough?” Whoever can claim to be the stronger voice of protest against Washington has tended to win, even when that protest comes from a strange or suspect quadrant, as with Rand Paul in Kentucky or Sharron Angle in Nevada.

I’ve had a different ballot question in my head. Republicans got into trouble in 2006 and 2008 because we did a disappointing job of governing the country in the 2000s. Incomes didn’t grow, job creation was weak, wars were not won, we lost control of spending, and almost every major presidential initiative launched after the first 6 months in office floundered: Social Security reform, reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, immigration, healthcare. You often hear it said, “We tried, but Congress wouldn’t let us.” As Yoda might answer: “There is no ‘try.’ There is only ‘do.”

I’m not arguing that the administration accomplished nothing — just that next time, we must do better. And my ballot question is to ask: Is this a Republican who can do better? Does he or she join conservative values to knowledge and ability? Do they understand government, care enough about government to make it work better?

From Tom Campbell's Unfortunate Defeat by David Frum, June 10, 2010, at frumforum.com.