Video: David Frum on Palin and “Say It Louder” conservatism
posted at 9:45 pm on November 17, 2008 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
A parting shot via Bloggingheads as he inches towards the door at National Review. If this doesn’t rouse the readership from its post-election hangover, nothing will.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2
We can shout the principles from the rooftops but until we stop trying to make every election a culture war, we will not win again.
Use the ‘94 model.
Squid Shark on November 18, 2008 at 7:51 AM
Frum just proved he is a fruitcake.
“WE JUST DON”T CARE ABOUT MAKING THE GOV’T WORK.”
“ANYONE CAN RUN THE GOVERNMENT.”
How can he completely ignore what Palin did in Alaska in terms of reform? He’s wrong, I don’t want Oil Companies running the Alaska government (i.e. ‘Just Anyone’), Sarah Palin stopped that. NR is better off without him, in fact now that a fruitcake like him is gone, I’m going to go subscribe.
mngirl on November 18, 2008 at 7:58 AM
““I am really and truly frightened by the collapse of support for the Republican Party by the young and the educated,” he said.”
Frum is obviously a brilliant man. “But” brilliant people get off course, too. Frum, like the rest of the GOP elite, is no longer willing to hide his contempt for the GOP Base out in flyover country. Globalist/elitists like Frum are in control of the the GOP and until they’re “purged” don’t expect the GOP to recover. Darvin Dowdy
Darvin Dowdy on November 18, 2008 at 8:04 AM
You’re right, it’s definitely cyclical.
Consistency in the message will prove us right in the long run.
Facts, simply stated without hyperbole, put out there in front of even the least educated can be a very powerful approach. No one has even come close since Regan in a presidential race or, as Squid said, in the House races in 94.
jerrytbg on November 18, 2008 at 8:05 AM
In fact, combining those two models, will be unstoppable.
jerrytbg on November 18, 2008 at 8:08 AM
David Frum has become insufferable recently. The fact is that Sarah Palin is the duly-elected governor of Alaska, not a religious nut. Frum calls our philosophy “say it louder conservatism.” He can’t truly believe that conservatism loses elections. John McCain is not a conservative; he made it clear during the election that he doesn’t really understand conservative values and looked very uncomfortable and very disingenuous calling himself a “footsoldier in the Reagan Revolution.”
McCain has now gotten back all of his precious goodwill from the media because of his desire to “get things done” with Obama. I am sick to death of people like McCain and Lindsey Graham who always “reach across the aisle.” Nobody ever demands liberal Democrats do the same. What’s the point of having a political party that sacrifices all principle when the going gets tough? If the GOP intends to sell out its base, it will become a permanent minority. Good advice, Frum.
WV736 on November 18, 2008 at 8:37 AM
I remember (although not the exact details) decades ago, in L.A. They were looking for a news anchor person. They put out a casting call, and all they did was place people in front of a camera and read the cue.
They did thousands, they found the one person who could recite and look the most sincere. Knowledge was not the issue (although she has a degree in journalism and had 3 years experience), it was how the people responded to her (it was a gal). She became incredibly popular, the number one news anchor in L.A., and finally nationally. She could look into the camera and “look smart”…Connie Chung.
She was one of the first selected not for being a journalist, but how she looked and sounded on tv. As one person said “we can teach them what to say, but not how to say it”.
right2bright on November 18, 2008 at 8:38 AM
Palin is a successful governor. Why is Frum disrespecting her abilities and her pick as VP? Obama is the “nothing” candidate. Saying everything, does nothing, no track record except for extreme left votes and extreme left associations, no leadership, no executive experience.
Paul-Cincy on November 18, 2008 at 8:39 AM
Frum is proving that the neocons aren’t just going to go away. They are absolutely intent on retaining control of the GOP, and winning the 2012 election on the platform of simply not being a Democrat.
I hope I am not the only person prepared to vote 3rd party in 2010 if the GOP doesn’t supply me with a true conservative candidate.
angelat0763 on November 18, 2008 at 8:41 AM
And when they do, the Daily Kos works diligently to defeat them in the primary.
When McCain announced Palin’s selection, they were absolutely livid because they thought Lieberman should have been selected in the interest of bi-partisanship. The sense of entitlement they have is absolutely unrestrained by logic.
angelat0763 on November 18, 2008 at 8:47 AM
Having droned his readership into a snooze AP complains about the snoring.
Stephen M on November 18, 2008 at 9:06 AM
And what leads you to that conclusion? What evidence do you have for your thought that Americans don’t want no government?
I can point you to tons of libertarian friends of mine who truly want NO GOVERNMENT! They were disgusted by McCain’s warm-over Democrat-ism of making friends with the government, and “making government work.”
We don’t need more “efficient government,” and we don’t need to “make government work.”
We need to slash government, and get it the hell out of the way.
ericdondero on November 18, 2008 at 9:24 AM
This is a terribly important philosophical point, to me. I agree with Frum wholeheartedly – not just anyone can run this most powerful government in the world.
To run the United States properly, you need to understand – with perfect moral clarity –
- right from wrong,
- the cost to your citizens and their grandchildren of spending money that you don’t have,
- the difference between an inconvenient pregnancy and a “threat to the health of the mother”,
- the value of hard work and sacrifice in achieving your goals,
- the power of the belief in God of 90% of our citizens,
- the power of the belief that we are all created equal, which nearly all of us hold, but which a huge majority of Democrats choose to undermine with racial and gender set-asides.
Jim-Rose, you nailed it. This is what is at play in the Sarah Palin debate. On almost all of those points, I would grade her above Obama. Maybe on all.
I don’t regard Obama as being particularly intelligent, the way so many, ahem, conservatives do, but I suppose he is smart and clever, in a pathological way. But Sarah Palin understands many things that he does not now understand, and probably never will.
I will keep watching and listening, everywhere, for the politial candidate of whatever stripe, who can articulate this thing that I believe.
Jaibones on November 18, 2008 at 9:26 AM
Big Government is bad, precisely because that’s what America’s Founding Fathers told us, and that’s the philosophy they founded this Republican upon.
“That government is best, which governs least.” Thomas Jefferson
What more do you need to know than that?
TJ said it, I believe it, and that settles it.
Nuff said.
ericdondero on November 18, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Frum isn’t all that smart if he can’t see that the drop in support was directly related to having a liberal running at the top of the GOP ticket. That, along with the financial mess, represents almost all of the margin of defeat in November. 10% of your voting base stays home out of disgust, you don’t win – period.
Vashta.Nerada on November 18, 2008 at 9:49 AM
“Democrats are not a threat to your money?” So the only difference between the two Parties today is “social issues.”
OK, think this through: What are the odds that David Frum is going to want to have an abortion any time in the near future? So that only leaves the one “social issue” that he’s REALLY talking about here.
99.99% of the things liberals say are incredibly idiotic. But they were right about one thing back when they found out Jeff Gannon was a practioner of their personal favorite sexual fetish: All of those “God-damned faggot[s]” should be kicked out of journalism.
If the liberals got their wish about that, it wouldn’t necessarily make the few remaining reporters any smarter but at least there would be a lot fewer of them. And if David Frum really wants quiet in the media, he’d finally get it. A win-win scenario.
logis on November 18, 2008 at 10:43 AM
There is a word for people who are incapable of thinking in a linear and reproduceable pattern — and that word is “idiot.” When someone expresses foolishness in a loquacious fashion, you can preface that title with the word “arrogant.” But nothing more.
I spent years working with engineers, and then years working with lawyers. And I’m still constantly amazed at the fact that so many people confuse eloquence with intelligence. The two qualities are utterly unrelated in the majority of cases. However, people often blythely assume that someone who knows how to communicate well must automatically be able to think just as clearly. And the people who are able to present themselves well (especially the very dumbest among them) are more than happy to share in that small-minded delusion.
logis on November 18, 2008 at 11:01 AM
I’d like to say something louder: GO AWAY DAVID FRUM!
Kensington on November 18, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Typical thought of an individual who has been in one place to long, think he has all the answers, all the while never really accomplishing anything other than flapping either their keyboard or lips…
Frum needs to start his own company, create some jobs, then make payroll using his own money, which he has earned by way of his hard work & intellect…
After that I will listen to what he has to say…..
BTW… Palin & her hubby have owned a couple of different businesses & made payroll… Something very few of our GOP elitists have ever done…. if any….
Frum…..Go out & actually create a viable enterprise,… then talk..
RaisinsofWrath on November 18, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Who does Frum think McCain energized in the campaign? Moderates? There’s a reason they’re called moderates–they don’t have strong convictions and are willing to go along with the prevailing attitudes of the majority. Palin got those of us on the fence about McCain out to the polls. Before he selected her, I almost considered leaving my ballot blank for President. I’m not saying she should be considered the front-runner for ‘12, but she should at least be considered someone who should be given an opportunity to be a power-broker in the party. David Frum wants to shut her and people like her (people like me) out of the political process. That is suicide.
WV736 on November 18, 2008 at 12:11 PM
I’m incredulous. That goober Frum actually does not understand the impact of the media on the mind space of the voting public! He actually believes American voters know what the Republican message is!
Capt Ed, you need to get David Frum to review your post today about howobamagotelected.org. He’s living in a damn dream world.
philwynk on November 18, 2008 at 12:22 PM
WV736 on November 18, 2008 at 12:11 PM
You really hit the nail on the head. I’m not saying she’s the only hope for 2012…I’m not saying she should even run in 2012.
In fact, I would not blame her one bit for saying, “Wow guys, this has been great, but I think I’ve had enough of the gratituous slander of me, my husband, my daughter, my infant child….stop in sometime when you’re in Juneau.”
I do think she’s proven to be a motivating, inspiring person for the base. She sure did inspire me. I understand you can’t win elections with the base and that the liberal media has sure done their darndest to caricature her into oblivion, but I think she’s earned the right to a seat at the big people’s table.
Who does Frum want, anyway? McCain kept us (and by us I mean both fervent conservatives and rank-and-file Bush Republicans) in a damned lethargic coma for months, and completely squandered his 4 MONTH HEADSTART while Obama had momentum like a mofo, raising money, exciting supporters, gaining the experience that made him a tougher candidate (particularly, a much better debater)….etc etc.
1996 and 2008 were two elections that we lost because of this suicidal notion that we’ve got to support the next in line instead of the best candidate for the moment and for the ever changing particular set of circumstances that greets every national campaign.
I will not assume that that figure will be Sarah Palin in 2012, but I do not assume it won’t be and people like Frum are only helping me to lose respect for them, not her. Frum has great ideas but his assumptions about Palin are false and damaging.
gippergal1984 on November 18, 2008 at 12:48 PM
philwynk wrote:
Frum would probably be too ashamed to admit that he thought Sarah Palin DID say “I can see Russia from my house.”
L.N. Smithee on November 18, 2008 at 12:48 PM
This is a perfectly fine litmus test to tell whether one is a “conservative” or not. You can like Sarah Palin more than I do, or less than I do – and more power to you. But anyone who JOINS IN with the liberal media pile-on has picked his side. And it’s the opposite of the one I’m standing on. It’s impossible to “compromise” with someone who decides to rabidly attack one of us because of her hairstyle or accent. You can’t do that and then claim to not be an enemy.
There are a lot of otherwise perfectly qualified moonbats out there who agree with the liberals on every issue but one. Are we supposed to adopt the liberals’ position on Iraq so that we can steal the Democrats who aren’t fully comitted to Welfare? Or adopt the liberal position on Welfare so we can win over more neo-neocons?
Each one of them wants us to adopt the specific and utterly intractable platform that only exists inside his own head. They know there’s no point in trying to beg the Democrats to give up on that silly Socialism bugaboo so that they can win over another pro-abortion activist – or visa versa. So they don’t try.
Instead, every oddball comes to US and demands that we change ourselves to fit his own political viewpoint.
Well, we’ve seen how well trying to appease the unappeaseable works. We need to show the world how incredibly open-minded we are – by trying something completely different this time around.
logis on November 18, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Foo Frum is a big government elitist.
He believes it takes a really big brain to run a really big government. He is contemptous of someone who doesn’t spend all day every day studying the minutia of legal documents..
Barney Franks has a really big brain, as does John Kerry and The One. He must LOVE them
Well, some of us thinks it takes more COMMON SENSE than a really big brain.
Frum is an idiot.
notagool on November 18, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2