GOP plan: Bring Dubya back!

[DonViejo]

Look beneath the surface, and a hot new plan for the party's comeback is really just George W. Bush redux

BY ELIAS ISQUITH

It’s fast becoming a cliché, but it’s nevertheless the truth: If Republicans plan to win the White House any time soon, they’re going to have to change. And that change will have to be more substantial than simply asking the Romney clan to ease up a bit on the whole public service thing, or churning out more Spanish-language campaign ads during the next election. To borrow one of the president’s favorite phrases, when it comes to an altered Republican Party, there’s got to be a “there” there. Singing some new lyrics atop the same old tune just won’t cut it. (Sorry, Senator Rubio.)

So the question is not so much whether the GOP should change but, rather, how? Two options commonly proffered are as follows: Republicans could follow the lead of Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and push for even smaller government (I call this the “more cowbell” school of thought). Or they could look instead to the small but influential group of right-wing intellectuals claiming to offer a new path: the “conservative reformers.” The decision looks so simple. Either one step forward, or two steps back.

Spend some time reading the conservative reformers, though, and you’ll discover things are a wee bit more complicated than that. The choice isn’t quite so stark. Because rather than offering a fresh, new way to package conservatism for the 21st century, it turns out that the conservative reformers, whether they know it or not, are resurrecting an idea whose time has come, and gone, and perhaps now come again. They’re bringing compassionate conservatism back. Or at least they’re trying.

Before going any further, though, we should define our terms. What is compassionate conservatism? It would be an oversimplification to call it the conservatives’ version of Clintonism — but only a little. In a 2009 essay about the phenomenon for the National Interest, the New America Foundation’s Steven M. Teles described the basic conceit of compassionate conservatism as “an effort to shift the basic axis of partisan…from means to ends.” That’s a fancy way of saying that compassionate conservatism takes the welfare state for granted, whereas more doctrinaire conservatism (think Paul Ryan) seeks to burn it to the ground instead.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/15/gop_plan_bring_dubya_back/

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. If there is a W comeback people will laugh and scorn!

Don't worry, we will remind the public of his antics

[Xipe Totec]

2. Jon Lovitz Bush-Dukakis debate

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4117

[blkmusclmachine]

3. .

.

[Rain Mcloud]

4. Wrong Bush

They want Jebbie.

[pangaia]

5. "Or they could look instead to the small but influential group of right-wing intellectuals.."

Isn't that an oxymoron? As well as using conservatives and 'compassion' in the same sentence?