This thread at Hot Air, in response to my why-we-lost and how-we-get-back column, makes for some instructive reading for those invested in this debate. Most of the major threads of conservative thought on why we lost the election can be found here. The “McCain was too much of a liberal” thread (incorrect). The “Sarah Palin is an awesome libertarian” thread (also incorrect). And, then, the “what the f–k is Sager smoking, Bloomberg is not a libertarian” thread.
OK, that last one isn’t a major thread in the post-election analysis. But it’s the one I want to address, since I threw out the name.
Here’s a post on that topic:
Okay, unlike others in the Republican party, I’m willing to throw the social conservatives and the evangelicals under the bus if that’s the only way to elect a free market, strong-on-defense president.
So Ryan Sager has labored mightily in his own mind and brought forth as a suggestion …Michael Bloomberg??!! What is this guy smoking? (Not cigarettes, obviously, since he’s a fan of Bloomberg and lives in New York.) Do I need to even remind anyone that this is a high-tax, high-spending, pro rent control, pro-regulation, pro gun control, nanny stater? And he’s a life long Democrat. Wow, I don’t think that Princeton education did Sager much good. And Mr. Sager, you think Bloomberg is doing such a great job in NYC. Similar to what Frum asks about Palin, let’s see what kind of a job he does in an economy with tax revenues from Wall Street completely drying up. It’s going to make being governor of Alaska (with the falling oil prices) look like a cake walk!
This is truly the stupidest column I’ve ever read, but maybe Allah or somebody smart like that can explain it to me.
First off, I didn’t go to Princeton, so perhaps that explains my idiocy. Second, I’m not going to argue with anyone who says Mike Bloomberg isn’t a libertarian. Point conceded. But here’s why I use his name for a stand-in for what I’m talking about…
At base, this is probably a pretty similar case as to why I (and a lot of other libertarian-ish types) would support Rudy Giuliani for the GOP nomination — or, at least, would have in 2007-2008. There are very few politicians out there with anything like a libertarian profile who are in any position to run for president. (Folks can make the case about Sarah Palin, but she did not appeal to the libertarian part of the GOP base at all during the election; she was, you may remember, lying about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere, and she’s based what little appeal she has to anyone almost solely on her pro-life and pro-small-town, anti-big-city Jews — err, I mean, “media elite” — credentials. No sale as far as I’m concerned.) Given that, the available menu of candidates is, shall we say, a bit short.
So, what does a libertarian go looking for? In short, someone who is a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.
Let’s go back to Giuliani: check and check. I think, over the course of the primary campaign, however, he went way too far in trying to out-anti-immigrant Mitt Romney; he also sold out his support of civil unions in an attempt to out-social-conservative Mitt Romney, and he threw in his foreign-policy lot with the most extreme neoconservatives. I’m not saying I’d never consider him again. But I’m interested in a thorough search for who else might be out there.
And, so, this brings me to Bloomberg. Again, not a libertarian. Smoking ban: bad. Trans fat ban: bad. Anti-gun lawsuits: bad. His fiscal policy? There, despite some relatively minor tax increases, I’d still call him a fiscal conservative. He’s pulled us through some tight budget times with a minimum of pain. Overall, a pretty admirable job on the fiscal front, so far; we’ll see what happens going forward. On education, he’s not been supportive of vouchers, unfortunately, but he’s been heroic in his support of charter schools. On social issues, like abortion and gay marriage — well, he shares my positions; I wouldn’t expect much of the Republican base to like them. On foreign policy, he’d probably be a lot more internationalist than, say, Bush or McCain. Again, I’m fine with this — tough sell to the base.
Of course, a real-life Bloomberg run probably wouldn’t have to go through the Republican base. It would likely be a third party run. And, if successful, such a run could put an end to the GOP.
I wish there were a strong, libertarian-type candidate out there — especially one with the right cultural profile. As in: western. A Republican Brian Schweitzer. Of course, the fact that the GOP has no such candidate is just one of many symptoms of how and why we’re utterly and totally screwed. (ed: You just described Palin! She’s a biblical literalist who hates everyone from a place with a population north of 10,000! She’s not going to win us back an increasingly urban Colorado, for instance! Get the hell back to Kaus’s blog!)
Given the reality we’re faced with, I don’t think anyone ought to turn up his or her nose at Bloomberg just yet. That said, I’m not trying to drive the Bloomberg bandwagon, here. I’m describing a type. Other suggestions are more than welcome. And, of course, 2012 isn’t exactly right around the corner. But I can’t help myself!
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