Soon, concentrated efforts began, at places like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, to forge networks of expertise in theory, policy and political operations, filling in every component for a vigorous new age of conservatism.Īnd there were many other centers of patient determination on the right.

He urged that conservatives see themselves as 'well-planted seeds of hope, which will flower on a great November day in the future, if there is a future.'

Buckley, during the 1964 campaign, recognized the dominance of liberalism at that time. Republicans began their own long journey of re-appraisal in the wake of Barry Goldwater's crushing defeat in 1964, then intensified their efforts after the debacle of Watergate. Still, a good start might be to study those who achieved exactly such a renewal, quite recently in American political life. Such a process can be long and agonizing. One can understand their almost visceral reluctance. In fact, the Since Sliced Bread exercise turned into a silly waste of time, rehashing some utterly unimaginative ideas which only served to demonstrate just how difficult will be the task at hand: Persuading the liberal and modernist communities to actually begin thinking fresh, to start a process of genuine renewal. The notion - offering a $100,000 prize for ideas that might help bring about a Democratic Party victory - was in part a grudging tribute to successful Republicans who, over the course of several patient decades, reversed their fortunes from political impotence to mastery over nearly all American levers of power. When you've been vanquished and driven into the wilderness, it's time for reflection and re-evaluation, perhaps even a willingness to ponder fresh ideas.Īt least, that was the philosophy promoted by one liberal interest group, the Service Employees International Union, when in late 2005 they set up a contest at the website. There is an old military maxim that only defeat teaches new doctrines.

Two Tyrants by A.G. Roderick