The elder statesman of modern conservatism, William F. Buckley Jr., who always makes a well reasoned and compelling argument, wrote recently that the refusal by the Bush administration to give up the war in Iraq may be leading inevitably to the collapse of the Republican Party. No doubt, the prospect has Democrats dancing a jig. While Buckley, in the final analysis, is almost certainly correct, Democrats should pause before succumbing to uncontrolled fits of ecstasy.
It’s no secret that the Republican Party is in the throes of a monumental upheaval, but the root causes predate our current troubles in Iraq. The core of the problem has more to do with the abandonment of rank-and-file conservatives by cynical and self-serving Republican politicians, including the President himself who, for example, has always been an open-borders advocate and only recently taken to the pretense of being tough on illegal immigration.
But the Democrats are having serious troubles of their own, with far-left activists now controlling a large section of the purse-strings, driving centrists away from the party towards the independent category. The Dems don’t like to think about it, let alone admit it, but the conservative movement isn’t losing ground and stands ready to expand it’s ranks if serious conservative candidates, such as Fred Thompson, should emerge.