When I say something like, "the Republicans (or conservatives) have been the party of ideas in recent years," which I probably have said, what I mean by it is not that they have good ideas, or new ideas, but that since about 1978 or so, and especially under When I say something like, "the Republicans (or conservatives) have been the party of ideas in recent years," which I probably have said, what I mean by it is not that they have good ideas, or new ideas, but that since about 1978 or so, and especially under Reagan, they organized their approach to politics around ideas: big concepts, ambitious goals, principles, a real public philosophy.
Liberals and Democrats, on the other hand, often spoke in a language of government programs, as if the name and material benefits of a government program are sufficient justification.
So when Barack Obama says that, "Republicans were the party of ideas for the last 10 or 15 years" and that Reagan changed the ideological landscape in ways that Nixon or Clinton did not,
and Rep. Barney Frank responds with indignation, listing,
Medicaid, Medicare, the Environmental Protection Agency, Community Development Block Grants
I think the point is proved. A federal funding stream, like Community Development Block Grants, is not an idea. (Even as a funding stream, it's not much to be proud of, scattering benefits to poor and well-off communities alike.)
Liberals don't lack ideas. The problem is that we forget that policies and programs are means to implement ideas, to achieve certain principles. Unless you can articulate the goal itself (and I'm not even sure what the principle of CDBG is, other than, every city and town should have a little more money), you can't construct a winning politics.
-- Mark Schmitt
