New York Times: Mission Accomplished

John Micklethwait och Adrian Woolridge har en bra artikel i New York Times om American Conservative Unions 40-årsjubileum.Misson Accomplished">40-årsjubileum

Här några axplock:

In his speech (vid jubileet) the President promised that "for our blessed land the best days lie ahead," ... But the real flavor of the event was captured by what the president called the "fine group of decent citizens" gathered at the tables in front of him - members of the N.R.A., the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Foundation and countless other groups that make up Conservative America....

... it is because of such groups that the right has out-organized, out-fought and out-thought liberal America over the past 40 years. And the left still shows no real
sign of knowing how to fight back.

år 1964 tycktes Barry Goldwater, den förste nykonservative presidentkandidaten komma från en annat planet.


Fast forward to today. A Republican Party that is more conservative than Mr. Goldwater could have imagined controls the White House, Congress, many governors'
mansions and a majority of seats in state legislatures.

Today, a Gallup poll tells us, twice as many Americans (41 percent) describe
themselves as "conservative" than as "liberal" (19 percent).

They usually ignore the fact that the right has simply been far better at producing
agenda-setting ideas. From welfare reform in Wisconsin to policing in New York City, from the tax-cutting Proposition 13 in California to regime change in Baghdad, the intellectual impetus has, for better or worse, come from the right.

... the right has a history of advancing its agenda under Democratic executives (welfare reform came about under Bill Clinton)... it has organized
itself for a much longer battle... the flame has burned eternal at places like Heritage, the American Enterprise Institute and the Cato Institute, and at their
smaller cousins in virtually every state.

There are other battalions of foot soldiers, too. Americans for Tax Reform ...

Now, perhaps, a few liberals are waking up to the task that confronts them. Americans Come Together, a group backed by the billionaire George Soros, already has 20 offices and 450 employees in Ohio alone. John Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, has founded the Center for American Progress...