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August 29, 2008 8:26:48 CDT

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Here Comes Era of Activist Government

Posted Jul 18, 08 10:17 AM CDT in Politics,  Opinion 

(Newser) – With daunting issues demanding immediate action—energy, the markets, and crumbling infrastructure to name but a few—the US is about to enter a phase of "government activism," writes David Brooks in the New York Times. Bad news for John McCain, right? Maybe not. As past periods of great change show, it is more often the conservatives leading the way in such eras.

"It’s as if voters understand that they need big changes, but they want those changes planned and enacted by leaders who will restrain the pace of change and prevent radical excess," he writes. Benjamin Disraeli and Theodore Roosevelt both embodied this idea of using new policies to save existing economic and social values. McCain, too, has to convince voters that we need new ideas not for the sake of change itself, but, paradoxically, in order to preserve the old ways.

Source New York Times

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Benjamin Disraeli was one of the most prominent conservative reformers, a position that isn't as oxymoronic as you'd think, writes David Brooks.   (Archive Photos)
%u201CThe true function of the state as it interferes in social life should be to make the chances of competition more even, not to abolish them,%u201D wrote President Teddy Roosevelt.   (Archive Photos)
America is going to need a lot of government-led change in the coming years, but not necessarily for change's sake, writes David Brooks.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
John McCain may need to convince Americans that he can offer the change the economy and society needs in a way that will preserve the old ways.   (AP Photo/Cory Morse, Pool)
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John McCain  • health care  • politics  • energy  • financial markets  • conservatives  • infrastructure  • change  • Teddy Roosevelt


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