Book Review

Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again

By David Frum

Copyright 2008

Review by Steve Fritsch (June 2008)

There have been a lot of books released within the last few years regarding modern conservatism and its recent struggles after almost twenty-four years of electoral success. From the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 through George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004, conservatism seemed destined to rule for decades to come. This seemed especially true in 2002, when the Republicans won a majority of the Senate and thus took control of all three branches of government, leaving liberalism and the Democratic Party especially blue (no pun intended). But as we all know now, the majority of those Republican elected officials—both nationally and on the state level—that owed their victories to conservatism and the progress it created ended up turning their back on the ideas and principles that got them there to begin with. On the other hand, perhaps “turning their back” is the wrong phrase to describe it; it is probable that many of the Republicans who won office by campaigning as “conservatives” were really never very conservative at all. If true, and I certainly believe it is, then this is a very important realization that people need to understand before they start talking about the supposed decline and fall of conservatism. Based on this point, it is not conservatism which is seeing a decline and fall, but the Republican Party, for they are two very different things.

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This is not anything new to true conservatives out there. True conservatives largely believe that the GOP got its butt kicked in the 2006 mid-term elections because many of us stayed home on Election Day; that President Bush’s approval rating is at an historic low because we don’t much approve of him any more, and if he had our support his rating would likely be in the low fifties; that John McCain is the 2008 presidential nominee because we somehow could not fully unite behind either Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee. Conservatives may have been somewhat split on whether Romney or Huckabee was the best candidate (though neither of them really was), but they are not split however that John McCain is certainly not their ideal choice. Furthermore, conservatives know that as an ideological group—if you consider conservatism an ideology—we are not split on how we feel about the major issues confronting the nation right now, we just happen to lack the leaders, or one dominant figure, that can lead us in solving those issues.

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All of this being said, some so-called conservatives just don’t seem to get that it is not conservatism that needs to be redefined, but the Republican Party that needs to be redefined. After reading his latest book, Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again, author David Frum seems to fit into this group. Despite offering many sensible and practical suggestions in the book, Frum so often confuses Republicans for conservatives, and vice versa, that one begins to wonder if Frum believes there really is any difference at all. This became very frustrating for me as I read the book, because Frum is no dummy and I believe that, overall, he is pretty conservative. However, Frum comes across as a “big government conservative” in much of the book and since I come from the libertarian-leaning side of conservatism, I found myself questioning many of his solutions at the same time.

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To explain what I mean by “big government conservatism,” it is to describe those Republicans who want to use the existing big government that we have to achieve conservative ends. This is opposed to those Republicans who want to chip away at big government and make it more limited and less intrusive, while also still being very efficient. It really comes down to the difference between people like Newt Gingrich, who wants government to get smaller, and people like John McCain, who does not seem to mind if government gets bigger. Despite my frustrations with Frum throughout this book, I’m not ready to label him a big government conservative quite yet. But perhaps a better label to describe what Frum seems to be proposing is “populist conservatism.” According to Frum, the conservatism of the 80s and 90s has been “exhausted.” Because voters find themselves less approving of old conservative solutions to today’s problems—again, according to Frum—Republicans must then offer new conservative solutions, something more “fresh and compelling.” So what new solutions does Frum propose to get conservatism back on the winning track?

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When it comes to taxes, Frum believes we can no longer afford big tax cuts, so the solution is “smarter taxes.” He believes that if we are going to propose major tax cuts in the future, then the government must “balance them” with other tax increases. Frum goes into the various different taxes that can be increased without hurting the economy, while at the same time widening health coverage, extending personal ownership of retirement accounts, and improving school quality. Furthermore, regarding what he calls the “four great anxieties” of modern middle class life—schools, health care, retirement, and the unaccountability of politicians—these “smarter” taxes would help alleviate those middle class concerns.

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While I am certainly no economist, what Frum seems to be proposing in the realm of taxes seems to be very different than what people like Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams regularly propose. And since the latter two are indeed economists, and come from the Milton Friedman school of economics, I’ll stick to believing their recommendations for taxes over Frum. But this doesn’t mean that one should not read Frum’s beliefs. Quite the contrary, if conservatives are going to take back the Republican Party, we need to understand what our center-right colleagues are also proposing. Sometimes they will make some good points and reasoned arguments, and since conservatism is all about what ideas work best for the advancement of human liberty and economic freedom, we should listen to them all. After all, as Frum rightly points out, if conservatives cannot offer solutions Democrats and liberals will. And we all can agree that most of their solutions are even worse than the present problems we already encounter.

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Besides the laborious chapter on taxes, Frum also address his solutions to “keeping China number two,” which includes pragmatic proposals to fix our educational system. Frum is certainly correct that we must make our young people realize that an educated populace is the foundation of a great society and that a good education is the backbone to successful individual careers. He also addresses the pro-life movement and talks about how conservatives should attempt handling the stem-cell research issue, which he says a majority of Americans approve of. In addition to stem-cell research, he also discusses the need for prison reform and the complex issue of same-sex marriage, which he calls “one of the weirdest [issues] ever to inflame public passions.”

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On one rare similarly to Newt Gingrich, Frum’s chapter on the environment also proposes “green conservatism,” stating that unless the Right offers ways to help the environment the public will be continually sucked into the extremism of the left and its wacko-environmental policies. Frum states that despite the “hysterical exaggerations” of the global warming movement, it cannot be healthy to continue “pumping trillions of tons of carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere.”

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Finally, Frum tackles the War on Terror and how we can keep up the pressure on terrorist groups and state sponsors of terror. Much of what he says about the War on Terror is just regurgitation of what most conservatives already believe in and agree with. But Frum ends up going way off track—and sounding very Obama-esque—when he says he supports direct talks with Iran, even restoring diplomatic relations. I almost dropped the book when I read this. Frum’s reasoning is that we must do whatever it takes in preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Now, most conservatives would agree with that. Yet diplomacy will not work with the Mullahs of Iran; these people only respect strength, and if military strength is what they respect, then an air strike on their nuclear production sites would certainly get their attention and set back their nuclear ambitions.

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One additional problem I had with Frum was his attempt to compare Ronald Reagan’s mission of advancing the values of the West through “peaceful advocacy” with his proposal to open up negotiations with Iran. While it is certainly true that Reagan pursued all means of peaceful advocacy towards communism and Soviet imperialism, Reagan also used covert military action as well. His support to arm the Contras and the Mujahideen, the invasion of Grenada, bombing Muammar Qaddafi's compound in Libya, and the deployment of Pershing and Tomahawk missiles in Europe directed at the USSR showed that Reagan drew a line between peace and surrender. Furthermore, Reagan refused to meet with the Soviet leadership until he had something worthwhile to bargain for, until the Soviets were serious about keeping any promises that they might be willing to make. Therefore, Frum’s suggestion that we should restore diplomatic relations with Iran without preconditions—and using Reagan as an example of some peacenik in dealing with the Soviets—shows that he is either ignorant of history, or he is conservative dove. In the War on Terror, dovish ideas are dangerous, and Frum only decreases his credibility with conservatives by endorsing dovish, Obama and Carter-esque foreign policy goals.

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In the end, this book is a good read for those conservatives who want to broaden their understanding of the variety of opinions that are being offered from the Right. But it should be remembered that Frum is not a pure conservative champion like Newt Gingrich or Grover Norquist who wants to drastically roll back big government, but rather a moderate conservative who is more interested in using conservative ideas to influence and maintain the existing structure of big government. And for that, Frum will not find a particularly friendly reception from true conservatives with this book.

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