R. Emmett

Drop the dead donkey

American liberalism is a spent force – as President Obama will discover in November

issue 16 June 2012

In 1992, I wrote a book called The Conservative Crack-Up, and my liberal adversaries were joyous. Which is not to say they read the book. American liberals never read a book by a conservative, not even an essay, not even a letter to the editor. What gave wings to their spirits was that 1992 was an election year, and they thought I had somehow provided them with ammunition. They neglected to note that some years before I had written another book, The Liberal Crack-Up, in which I had said that the future for liberals looked even gloomier. At the risk of bragging — of all the virtues, humility is the one I find mysterious — I think I can now say my predictions were accurate. Twenty years on, as President Obama is about to find out, American liberalism is facing extinction. 

The tensions that fevered conservatism in 1992 were typical of a young movement.

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