Ask Commentarama

Today we announce a new feature: Ask Commentarama. You ask questions, and I’ll see what I can do about answering them. Think of it like an e-mail bag, where you get to help shape the content of Commentarama. Cool huh? All topics are welcome! Today’s we have two questions. The first is about Evan Bayh. The second is about the Mount Vernon Statement.

Q. What does Commentarama think about Evan Bayh's retirement from the Senate? Will he run for president?

This question comes from “Mike” and it’s an excellent question. The media is currently reporting that Bayh said that he would definitely not run for president. But that’s inaccurate. Bayh was not asked simply if he intended to run for President. He was asked if he would switch parties and run for president against Obama. To that, he said, “no possibility whatsoever.”

And make no mistake he is positioning himself as a future Democratic candidate. For example, those complaints about “partisanship” are actually attacks on the Republicans. Indeed, he has been careful to add that “I’m not angry at my party.” Similarly, he’s praising Obama’s agenda and Obama’s “sincere” efforts at bipartisanship.

So why resign? Consider these facts:

1. Given the pro-Republican tidal wave that’s about to descend on conservative states in 2010, the chances are good that Bayh would lose his seat. If he loses, his chances of becoming President die immediately. But by retiring now he can avoid the stigma of defeat by claiming that he retired out of principle while he was on top -- spreading the word that polls (which you will never see) had him 20 points ahead, are part of this strategy.

2. By retiring, he saves himself $13 million dollars, which goes a long way to starting a race for President.

3. Even if he wins, the next Senate will need to make some very difficult choices. They will need to raise taxes, which will kill his support among moderates, and/or cut spending dramatically, which will kill his support among progressives. There will also be very unpopular decisions vis-à-vis Iran, health care, and environmental issues. By retiring now, he can avoid responsibility for those choices, but still later claim that he would have supported the successful ones.

Thus, I would suspect that once the current storm has passed, Bayh will start campaigning for the Democratic Party’s 2016 nomination as an untainted reformer who was drawn back into politics “to clean up the mess his successors created.” However, he may be underestimating the stranglehold the extreme left has on the Democratic Party primary process. That’s what undid Hillary Clinton and it will keep him from ever getting the nomination. . . unless he does like John Edwards and makes a hard left turn.

Q. What does Commentarama think about the Mount Vernon Statement?

Tough question. For those who don’t know, the Mount Vernon Statement is a manifesto being prepared by various conservative heavy weights (e.g. Brent Bozell, Grover Norquist, Ed Meese, Edwin Feulner, etc.). It is described as follows:

"It's a philosophical foundation, based on the concept of constitutional conservatism. It's written so most conservatives can say, 'Yeah, this is just what I think.'"

So far so good. I’m a firm believer that conservatives need to come together with a statement of principles to help define what it means to be a conservative. Otherwise, people who are not really conservatives can continue to claim that the label applies to their pet peeves.

BUT, based on the little bit I’ve seen, this document suffers from the same problem that causes most activist-driven proclamations to fail: it’s written by people who can’t relate to non-activists. Here is the introductory statement:

In recent decades, America's principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The self-evident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.

Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn't this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?

The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature's God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man's self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.

Uhm, no. This is unreadable. In trying to parrot the language of the 1770’s, they’ve made a document that sounds stilted and out of place today. It’s also hopelessly vague. Notice that it does not define what “self-evident truths” formed this country; there is considerable disagreement about that (even at the time). It meanders and it’s theoretical to the point of being esoteric. Did your blood boil when you read this. . . did you even bother finishing it? Finally, it just confirms the stereotype that conservatives are hopelessly stuck in the past. Indeed, notice that the main opposition seems to be to “change” and “new” ideas. This is the sort of argument conservatives make that just p*sses me off. New issues arise everyday as the human race continues to do new things. Opposing new things is luddite and ignorance of the highest order. It also leaves the left offering the only possible solutions. So stop. What conservatives should be talking about is how to apply conservative principles to new issues, not whining how things were better back when.

So my answer is this -- good idea, poor execution.


That’s our first Ask Commentarama installment. Here’s the deal. If you have any questions, e-mail them to me at Commentarama@yahoo.com or leave them in the comments below (I’ll check back throughout the week.) Then, next Wednesday, I’ll see what I can do about providing answers.