David Frum
David Frum
David J. Frumis a Canadian-American neoconservative political commentator. A speechwriter for President George W. Bush, Frum later became the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency. He is a senior editor at The Atlantic and also a CNN contributor. He serves on the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the British think tank Policy Exchange, the anti-drug policy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and as vice chairman and an associate fellow of the R Street...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
CountryUnited States of America
Reagan is a symbol who calls the party to be something broader. The Republican Party is in many ways a very disunited party. In a way, by making Reagan a greater figure, you can create a greater unity.
I am really and truly frightened by the collapse of support for the Republican Party by the young and the educated.
The thing that sustains a strong Fox network is the thing that undermines a strong Republican party.
Yet when the hour of decision arrives, it turns out that many conservatives care as little as ever about administrative skill and executive accomplishment. Our party and our movement overwhelmingly respond to symbolic cues. Sarah Palin is exciting and appealing. But what kind of executive is she? None of us have even the remotest idea.
I knew first-hand why, for all her virtues as a human being, she would be inadequate both ideologically and in terms of qualifications for this job.
It's reaching out. But the Supreme Court is exactly the place where the president should draw the line.
What the generation, the Americans who came of age in the 30s and 40s believe they lived, felt, I mean had reason to feel they lived in a world that was very much beyond their control and in which terrible things were capable of happening to you beyond your control. The depression being the obvious example.
There is no reason at all to believe either that she is a legal conservative or -- and more importantly -- that she has the spine and steel necessary to resist the pressures that constantly bend the American legal system toward the left.
We have every reason to fear that the president's support among conservatives will decline. I don't think it will drop radically, but I think all the indicators are ... that conservatives are really unhappy about this. And if his numbers among conservatives go down, his overall ratings will drop. He's already at a dangerously low level.
Conservatives have worked too hard for too long to settle for anything less than our very best on the Supreme Court.
The Bush administration since 9/11 has been again and again fighting to escape gravity, fighting to escape the weight of the way things have always been done. Things are now coming to a decision point, and we'll know soon.
Compared to, say, a prime minister of England, a president has actually astonishingly few legal powers. A prime minister of England can take England to war all by himself. He doesn't have to have a vote in Parliament, nothing. The President of the United States has to get a Declaration of War.
The talking point was 'Let's wait for the hearings because we don't know anything,' ... Well, I knew something. It was my responsibility. This was not fun. I take no pleasure in this. The long-term consequences for me are probably not going to be favorable.
Liberals did well, and not only in the 'Michael Moore' precincts, but also in a lot of areas where their scandals should have hurt them more.