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Blogs > Liberty and Power > DUBYA'S PRO-WAR CRITICS: A HOLLOW REBELLION

Jan 29, 2004

DUBYA'S PRO-WAR CRITICS: A HOLLOW REBELLION

by Liberty and Power

Many thanks to Radley Balko for his Fox News article citing my blog on Andrew Sullivan's biting critique of Dubya's domestic policy. I had argued, contra Sullivan, that our president's foreign and domestic policies are not contradictory but entirely consistent with a long Wilsonian tradition in American history.

For this reason, I am not too excited by the current criticisms of Bush by pro-war libertarians and conservatives at National Review Online , the Volokh Conspiracy , and other venues.

In choosing to back Dubya's war policies down-the-line, most of these critics of his domestic policy have essentially locked themselves into supporting him in November. In fact, their complaints may actually help Dubya win votes. He can point to their"all in the family" attacks to prove to moderate voters that he is, after all, a sensible conservative pragmatist who is protecting the country from extremist small government ideologues. Meanwhile, he can safely depend on the votes and public support of most these same pro-war libertarians and conservatives at election time.

The only way that Dubya will take their concerns seriously is if they bolt to a third party (or stay home) in November. I don't think that they are willing to do this when push comes to shove.

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