Out with the Old, In With the New

Fareed Zakaria notes that we're poised on a new age in which the old liberal vs. conservative ways of looking at the world don't work anymore. The Democrats, he seems to suggest, adapted, while the Republicans clung to their obsolesence:

Conservatives were ascendant in the 1980s and 1990s because they offered
powerful prescriptions for the problems of the 1970s--stagflation and social
unrest at home, and Soviet expansionism abroad. Arguing for less government,
traditional values and a tough response to Moscow worked. But though the world
changed, conservatives have trotted out the same ideas to every successive
crisis. Consider John McCain's response when asked how he would handle the Wall
Street meltdown. McCain vowed to end earmark spending, which has absolutely
nothing to do with restoring confidence and credit to the markets.

I felt the same way about McCain's saber-rattling over Russia's invasion of Georgia -- he was treating Russia like the Soviet Union and casting West vs. East as if the Cold War was still on.

Obama recognizes the change and you could hear explicit expressions of it in some of his rhetoric. I recall hearing him say something like this:

"The question today isn't whether Americans want big or small
government. That's the old question. Today, Americans want
better government."

Who after Katrina couldn't agree more with that?

The Republican Party has some serious soul searching to do and it needs to find itself. My Republican friends (the few still talking to me) all agree the party needs to return to "real conservatism." Then agreement stops when I ask them to define what "true conservatism" is.

Meantime, Obama stands astride history. Conservatism, as I knew (and supported) in the 80s and 90s may not be dead but it is obsolete. We'll see what Obama can achieve in this new era and if the Republicans can find their footing.