A major figure in 20th century American political culture has died. William F. Buckley, Jr., godfather of the modern conservative movement and founder of National Review, was 82. We can expect abundant metaphors in the obituaries pointing out how Buckley’s death coincides with the waning and, in some views, the collapse of the movement he helped usher into prominence and power. I interviewed him for the magazine a few years ago. He sure knew how to turn a phrase. My condolences to his family.
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The Phony War: Obama and Romney Are Debating Character, Not Policy
More than five months from Election Day, the back-and-forth about Mitt Romney’s record at Bain already feels played out. Unfortunately, there’s good reason to expect the campaign continues in this vein indefinitely. Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are terribly interested in dwelling on policy platforms. Romney’s plan to slash spending and keep taxes low on the wealthy isn’t especially popular, at least not at any level of detail beyond a blithe promise to shrink the deficit. Meanwhile, Obama’s signature first-term achievements, like health care, the stimulus and Wall Street reform, are all unpopular or tricky to sell. (The Dodd-Frank bill is the most popular of these, but hyping it means offending wealthy donors.) So what we’re getting instead is a superficial duel about character–and, worse, one that’s based on the largely false premise that the better man can better “manage” the economy back to health.
