Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again [Hardcover]

David Frum (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 31, 2007

At a moment of crisis and pessimism for American conservatives, David Frum offers fresh ideas—and fresh hope.

Not in a generation has conservatism been in as much trouble as it is at the end of the Bush years. A majority of Americans say the country is “on the wrong track.” Voters prefer Democrats over Republicans on almost every issue, including taxes. The married, the middle-class, the native-born are dwindling as a share of the population, while Democratic blocs are rising. A generation of young people has turned its back on the Republican party.

Too many conservatives and Republicans have shut their eyes to negative trends. David Frum offers answers.

Frum says that the ideas that won elections for conservatives in the 1980s have done their job. Republicans can no longer win elections on taxes, guns, and promises to restore traditional values. It’s time now for a new approach, including:

A conservative commitment to make private-sector health insurance available to every American
Lower taxes on savings and investment financed by higher taxes on energy and pollution
Federal policies to encourage larger families
Major reductions in unskilled immigration
A genuinely compassionate conservatism, including a conservative campaign for prison reform and government action against the public health disaster of obesity
A new conservative environmentalism that promotes nuclear power in place of coal and oil
Higher ethical standards inside the conservative movement and the Republican party
A renewed commitment to expand and rebuild the armed forces of the United States—to crush terrorism—and get ready for the coming challenge from China

Frum’s previous bestselling books have earned accolades for their courage and creativity from liberals and conservatives alike. Today, with the conservative movement and the Republican Party facing their greatest danger since Watergate, Frum has again stepped forward with new ideas to take conservatism—and America—into a new century of greatness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his new book, Frum (The Right Man), former speechwriter to President Bush, offers a conservative blueprint for accommodating challenges central to the next half-century of American life. Drawing on his expert knowledge of domestic politics and foreign policy, Frum shows how Republicans must evolve in accordance with the challenges and fluidity of contemporary America to win hearts, minds and elections. After staking out viably conservative positions on the salient political battles in America-healthcare, education, the economy, foreign policy, embryonic stem cell research, taxation and the like-Frum shines when dealing with the grand strategy of taxation, particularly his pro-growth model for accommodating domestic spending obligations such as social security. His analysis is particularly striking in its advocacy for consumption taxation in lieu of taxes that stifle investment and free enterprise. Taxes aimed at upper-class consumers rather than savings and investment is a provocative idea worthy of consideration. And although Frum's ideas are good, if not brilliant, the final chapter, in which he describes the errant behavior of the Bush administration, seems like a tardy rebuke to a president he once called The Right Man.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

PRAISE FOR DEAD RIGHT

“The most refreshing ideological experience in a generation.” – William F. Buckley

“Not just a great book – but a classic.” – Peggy Noonan

“The smartest book written from the inside about the American conservative movement.” – Frank Rich

“The Road to Serfdom of our time.” – Newt Gingrich

PRAISE FOR WHAT’S RIGHT

“One of the leading political commentators of his generation.” –Wall Street Journal

PRAISE FOR HOW WE GOT HERE

“[A]n audacious act of revisionism, written in a voice and style so original it deserves to be called revolutionary.” – John Podhoretz, National Review

“More than any other book I know, it shows how we came to be the way we are.” – Michael Barone

PRAISE FOR THE RIGHT MAN

"An acute analysis . . . [A] look at Bush different from any we've ever seen. Remarkably candid." – Los Angeles Times Book Review

PRAISE FOR AN END TO EVIL

“A radical, even revolutionary, vision of the contemporary world and the role that the United States can and must play in reshaping it . . . a refreshing departure from the postmodernist view of the world.” – New York Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (December 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385515332
• ISBN-13: 978-0385515337
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,344,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Frum is a contributing editor at Newsweek/Daily Beast and a CNN contributor. He is the author of eight books, including most recently the e-book WHY ROMNEY LOST and his first novel, PATRIOTS. In 2001-2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush; in 2007-2008, as senior adviser to the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign. You can read him at DailyBeast.com/davidfrum and on Twitter @davidfrum

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Conservatism needs new thinking January 18, 2008

By Michael T Kennedy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Unlike one reviewer whose opinion is posted here, I have read the book. It is a very interesting critique of the recent drift in conservative thought. As Frum points out, most of the battles from the 1970s have been won. Crime, out of control in 1974 when the movie "Death Wish" got standing ovations in movie theaters, has dropped steadily. Los Angeles has fewer murders than any time since the 1950s. New York is livable (although I'll have to take others word on that. I hate the place.). That problem is solved although Britain seems to be sinking into the same morass now as a result of the same policies that were reversed here by the conservatives in the 1980s. Supply side economics has pretty well replaced Keynesian economics everywhere but the Congressional Democratic caucus. Taxes have been cut until 80% of Americans pay more in payroll taxes (FICA, etc) than income tax. We won the intellectual battles but, as Frum points out, we at once began to enjoy the fruits of victory and forgot that, in politics at least, nothing is ever finally settled. The high point for conservatism was 1994 when the Republicans took Congress on a platform of conservative principles. Everything since has trended down.

Some of his most thought provoking comments pertain to health care, a special interest of mine. He is concerned that the middle class has been getting a raw deal for the past twenty years, partly due to health care costs. I have studied health care both as a physician and as a gradate student in health care economics. I won't get into details but Frum poses serious questions that Republicans will have to answer if they wish to retain power at the federal level. That section alone, is worth the price of the book.

He has serious questions about foreign policy for the next few decades and criticism of some of the Bush Administration's puzzling decisions about the handling of radical Islam. He has a long chapter on what he calls "Green Conservatism" that poses questions about energy policy. The only good suggestion that Al Gore ever made publicly (Some his private suggestions in the Clinton Administration sound far more practical than his dull public persona would suggest.), was the 50 cents per gallon gas tax. Had this been done in 1992, and the revenues devoted to defense, we would be far more secure. A carbon tax is one of Frum's suggestions.

This is a very practical and intellectual book with ideas that should be debated in the Republican Party. I don't agree with all his suggestions; his education and health care ideas need a lot of study, but the first step in solving a problem is to look at it objectively. This book does that well.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking discourse for genuine conservatives February 19, 2008

By Jerry Saperstein HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Both the Republican and Democrat national parties are built on the "big tent" theory: that they are to incorporate all the divergent views of their respective constituencies into a single party, rather than have dozens of splinter parties as in Europe and elsewhere.

The result has been a remarkably stable system of government. The serious student of politics knwos that within the larger party, there is always a dominant faction and that this dominant faction changes from time to time.

For about thirty years, genuine conservatives dominated the Republican Party. With them came the West's victory over the Soviet Union, the freeing of Eastern Europe without bloodshed, forcing welfare and budget reform on the nation and other victories, large and small, including the historic 1994 election victory. Perhaps because of its very success, the Republican Party lost its way and genuine conservatives were shouldered aside.

Now comes David Frum, a Canadian, with his thoughts on how Conservatism can win again.

It is indeed a thought provoking book, but not one that will be adopted as a Conservative bible.

Frum's basic thesis is that conservatives have lost their way, that too many of them have lost touch with the changing public and its views. He is right in his perceptions, but his prescriptions may not be acceptable to real conservatives.

For example, Frum goes on at length about how his proposal for a new way of viewing the abortion issue. I have a better idea, I think: ignore. Just say that the government has no business getting involved with the question at all and take the Republican Party out of a can't win situation.

Frum's suggestions on trying to get people to understand that terrorism is a real problem, on the other hand, are sound as are his suggestions for true reform of public education.

To his credit, Frum doesn't declare that his ideas are the only ideas. They are suggestions to get the debate rolling - and his book is laudable for that. It is, in fact, excellent and thought provoking reading.

One thing Frum can't do in this book, however, is to reconnect conservatives to the leadership of the Republican Party, which truly seems to have lost its way.

Jerry

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars an important book January 11, 2008

By Mark bennett

Format:Hardcover

This is a very insightful book. Frum captures the ideological problems today on the right and suggests the obvious truth that far too many refuse to listen to. The right needs to develop solutions to todays problems and a political agenda that addresses them from a conservative point of view. For example, everyone knows health care in America and health insurance are broken. Ask anyone who runs a medium-size company. The movement needs to pull its head out of the sand and come up with positive reforms to fix the system rather than allowing the debate be between nationalization and doing nothing. Simple solutions like returning health care to a situation where people pay a real price for health care rather than a phony marked up price designed to force people into the insurance system.

The conservative movement today needs to refresh itself ideologically and to start talking about what its for rather than talking about what its against.
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Comments in 2011

Things have moved on since the book was published. While my view of the book is the same, I have nothing favoriable to say about its author anymore. There is a line between supporting conservative solutions to social problems and trying to transform conservatism into Lyndon Johnson style liberalism with social spending run amok at home and wars abroad.

I think the arguments presented in the book are substantially more mild than the thinking behind the arguments have turned out over time to be.