A theme for Romney: Restoration and renewal

The New Frontier. Morning in America. Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow. Compassionate Conservatism. Hope and Change. Wrapping themselves in such slogans, men have won the White House in the past. Some on the right have criticized the Romney campaign for lacking a unifying banner of principle, but it seems to me that the campaign has a potential organizing theme: restoration and renewal. …

Restoration speaks to the fact that, for many if not most Americans, the United States is not an essentially sick and depraved country, in need of radical transformation by the wonder-working One. Restoration celebrates the idea that the founding principles of this nation — as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other documents — are still valid and worthy. Restoration, however, does not mean simply a reactionary turning back the clock to 1900 or 1800; such a leap cannot be accomplished, nor, in many respects, should it be. Just as we can subject the present to moral critique, so too can we criticize aspects of the past. Though there are many wrongs in American history (such as slavery, brutal bigotry, cruel economic exploitation, etc.), there are also a number of shining rights. We should build where possible on the successes of the past. In the act of renewal, we can strive for the best of American ideals and principles. This kind of renewal would demand an honest accounting of present circumstances and a willingness to try for something better.