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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: conservatism

conservatism stories: 36 news summaries

1 - 20 of 36 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

ANALYSIS

 GOP 2nd Wind 
 Doesn't Mean 
 Smooth Sailing 

Party back from last year's beating but upheaval still likely

(Newser) - The victories in Virginia and New Jersey look set to revitalize the Republican Party ahead of next year's elections, writes Adam Nagourney. The party now has the chance to re-energize its base and prepare for a proper comeback from last year's defeat, although the Democratic win in New York's 23rd... More »

OPINION

 GOP: It's 
 Time to 
 Rebrand to 
 'Conservative' 

New name may have greater pull than tainted Repub label

(Newser) - Candidates on both sides are doing their best to hide their party affiliation but it's the Republicans who have the most to worry about, writes Nate Silver . "The Democratic brand is marginal in about half the country, but the Republican brand is radioactive in about two-thirds of it ,"... More »

(Newser) - Bill Kristol remembers his late father as a man of a "deep modesty" who "loved intellectual pursuits but always shunned intellectual pretension." Irving Kristol, who died earlier this month at age 89, is generally regarded as the architect of neoconservatism, but the honors he accrued never gave... More »

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Weekly Standard memorial right wingers conservatism neoconservatives William Kristol Irving Kristol

(Newser) - Glenn Beck’s popularity as compared to the more “traditional American conservatism” of, say, Rush Limbaugh heralds the advent of a new archetype, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight: “Beck is a PoMoCon—a postmodern conservative.” A recent poll shows Beck and Limbaugh equally popular while Limbaugh’s... More »

appreciation

Counterculture Made Kristol
an Ex-Liberal  

Fear of post-'60s 'moral crisis'  spurred neocon's shift right

(Newser) - "Neoconservative" was originally a label applied to newly conservative ex-liberals and Irving Kristol, the late godfather of the movement, was among the first and finest of the kind, E. J. Dionne writes in the Washington Post. Kristol made a powerful case for "pragmatic liberalist" when he was still... More »

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neocon conservatism neoconservatives William Kristol counterculture Irving Kristol

 Neocon 
 Founder 
 Kristol 
 Dead at 89 

A former liberal, he sparked ideas behind the Reagan Revolution

(Newser) - Irving Kristol, the "godfather" of neoconservatism and a key intellectual force behind the Reagan Revolution, died today from lung cancer in Arlington, Va., the Washington Post reports. He was 89. Once a New York liberal, Kristol grew disaffected with liberalism in the 1940s and founded conservative magazines like... More »

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obituary Ronald Reagan neocon conservatism neoconservatives William Kristol

OPINION

  Hey, Jews Should Be 
 Conservatives, 
 Not Liberals: 
 Podhoretz 

Following 'false messiah' Obama is bad politics, bad religion: Podhoretz

(Newser) - Jewish voters backed Barack Obama over John McCain last year by a staggering 57 points—the most resounding mandate from any group other than African Americans. That bewilders neocon Norman Podhoretz, who argues in the Wall Street Journal that both Judaism and the Jewish experience endorse "the infinitely precious... More »

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Barack Obama Jews Norman Podhoretz Judaism liberal the Jewish vote conservatism

OPINION

 Right-Wing Crazy 
 Is All-American 

Birthers, tea parties—it's nothing new

(Newser) - With the left back in power, we’re seeing right-wing "crazies"—the “birthers, tea-partiers, town hall hecklers”—getting louder. But that’s nothing new, writes Rick Perlstein in the Washington Post. In America, “the crazy tree blooms in every moment of liberal ascendancy, and elites... More »

analysis

Southern Cheaters Call on God—but Which God?

Sanford used God-talk in confession; Spitzer, McGreevey didn't

(Newser) - Mark Sanford's liberal use of religious rhetoric in confessing his affair prompts Gustav Niebuhr to observe that whether Sanford is pandering or actually penitent, he is very much in the tradition of Southern politicians caught in scandal. Bill Clinton, David Vitter, and John Edwards all applied an ample dose of... More »

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Southeast Christianity religion affair scripture cheating political scandal conservatism Mark Sanford

 Revolted? 
 You May Be 
 Conservative 

Studies suggest those on right have weaker stomachs

(Newser) - Those easily repulsed by a creepy bug or bloody scene may lean to the right, new studies suggest. People who are easily grossed out are particularly likely to take conservative stances on homosexuality, LiveScience reports. Surveys using scales for “Disgust Sensitivity” and political ideology helped researchers draw the conclusions;... More »

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study science research Cornell University conservatism

Republicans Slam Party-Purist Outfit

Club for Growth backs unelectable righties,
say some in GOP

(Newser) - Some in the GOP have had it with the Club for Growth, an organization that identifies Republicans it deems weak on low-tax, small-government values, the Wall Street Journal reports. Party members argue that the Club backs Republicans too far right to win elections. “If their goal is to increase... More »

OPINION

Abortion 'Purity Test' Is New to Republicans

Not even 'conservative issue' for older generation: Goodman

(Newser) - Abortion has become “the purity test for remaining in the GOP’s inner circle,” writes Ellen Goodman in the Boston Globe: The Republican Party is shedding and shunning abortion-rights supporters it once called its own. But it wasn’t always that way—even “Mr. Conservative” Barry Goldwater... More »

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abortion abortion rights Arlen Specter Barry Goldwater pro life pro choice Colin Powell conservatism conservatives Republicans

OPINION

 What the 
 GOP Needs Is 
 a John Wayne 

Community, not freedom, is the true Western virtue: Brooks

(Newser) - Republicans have admired Westerns for decades, continually flocking to leaders—Goldwater, Reagan, Bush, Palin—who embody the John Wayne ideal of individualism and bravery. But as David Brooks writes, Westerns aren't really about lone heroes, but "civic order": how newcomers build communities in inhospitable regions. For the New ... More »

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GOP Barry Goldwater Ronald Reagan Republican Party David Brooks conservatism George W. Bush Sarah Palin community

After Limbaugh Dig, Palin Joins GOP Group

Alaska gov gets on board rebranding effort after Rush 'hate' jibe

(Newser) - Sarah Palin will join Congressional Republicans' high-profile rebranding committee, CNN reports, after days of confusion as to whether she was snubbing the group or it was snubbing her. Last week John McCain said that the Alaska governor would likely join the National Council for a New America, but there was... More »

 30 Years On, 
 Thatcher 
 Still Divides 



Britain's first female PM polarized during her rule, and after

(Newser) - Thirty years ago today British voters elected Margaret Thatcher in a landmark election, ushering in 18 years of Conservative rule. She remains a polarizing figure: her enemies still regard her as nearly diabolical, while her admirers speak of her as a saint. The Telegraph looks back on her tumultuous 11-year... More »

OPINION

 Cheney Should 
 Have Run in 2008 

VP would have lost big and awakened right, says Douthat

(Newser) - As he bashes the Obama administration and insists that torture kept the country safe, Dick Cheney sounds less like a retired VP than a man campaigning for a third Bush term. For Ross Douthat, it's a pity he didn't run himself. In his first column for the New York Times,... More »

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Barack Obama John McCain Dick Cheney torture Election 2008 conservatism conservative movement

GOP Targets Critics With Own Economic Plans

Budget proposals
seek to douse 'Party
of No' label

(Newser) - “The Party of No” is rejecting that label by introducing alternatives to President Obama’s policies rooted in GOP ideology, Politico reports. The Republican Road to Recovery is a weighty fiscal counterpart to the Democrats’ economic agenda, and marks a new strategy in the minority’s response. Republicans laud... More »

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Congress Mike Pence budget House Republicans conservatism Eric Cantor President Obama economic policies

OPINION

 Frum: 
 GOP Needs 
 Reform, Not Rush 

Stick-in-the-mud Limbaugh makes disastrous figurehead

(Newser) - Rush Limbaugh is gunning to be the face of the Republican Party, and the GOP is allowing it—with potentially disastrous consequences, writes noted conservative David Frum. “With his private plane and his cigars, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence,” Frum writes. Worse, Rush insists Republicans need... More »

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talk radio Rush Limbaugh Republican Party conservatism David Frum Bill Maher Grid

OPINION

 Old Guard Will 
 Win Battle for GOP 

Defeat likely to send party further to the right, ensuring future losses

(Newser) - A battle between reformers and traditionalists for the soul of the GOP lies in the party's immediate future, David Brooks writes in the New York Times—and the reformers don't stand a chance. The conservative old guard, with Rush Limbaugh as its loudest mouthpiece and Sarah Palin as its heroine,... More »

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Rush Limbaugh GOP Senate Republicans Republican Party House Republicans Election 2008 conservatism Sarah Palin

OPINION

 Conservatism Dead 
 by Its Own Hand: 
 O'Rourke 

Bloated government is only one (though huge) legacy of GOP reign

(Newser) - Modern conservatism is dead, and conservatives are to blame, PJ O’Rourke writes for the Weekly Standard. “Anyone who is still on the left is obviously insane and not responsible for his or her actions,” he contends. “No, we on the right did it.” Ideal after... More »

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