Comments on: What’s The Big Idea? http://larison.org/2007/03/27/whats-the-big-idea/ n. the principle of good order "Observe the strange inversion of all order and sense! Dignity debased; how vilely is the function of a consul prostituted!" ~The Craftsman Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:50:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: kranza http://larison.org/2007/03/27/whats-the-big-idea/#comment-6015 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 02:07:48 +0000 http://larison.org/2007/03/27/whats-the-big-idea/#comment-6015 It may be a glib answer, but it's just true: some "Big Ideas" are just *really* *Big* Ideas. "Lower middle reform" is a *really* *Big* Idea. It's not a two-years-out-anything-could-happen idea, like all the little things that are positioning the candidates against each other right now. It's something deeply part of the history of the country and the Republican party and, loosely speaking, "conservatism" and what hope conservatism has for success. And, yes, it's exactly the kind of idea the mainstream NR Right is so obtuse about, enamored of their own big ideas like spreading liberty and strong national security and Wall Street libertariansm. They think those a strong enough basslines to have carried the GOP from 1980 to today and beyond. They're right about big ideas mattering in that respect, but they're missing the really big ideas. And all of Jonah's examples in his last graph are little things that only bump elections a few points; we're talking about things push the entire electorate into new loyalties, like Reagan's Democrats and all the huge issues that moved them. Little things like Bush's DUI don't have to matter--shift the electorate fundamentally away from the GOP and the DUI matters even less because he loses anyway. It may be a glib answer, but it’s just true: some “Big Ideas” are just *really* *Big* Ideas. “Lower middle reform” is a *really* *Big* Idea. It’s not a two-years-out-anything-could-happen idea, like all the little things that are positioning the candidates against each other right now. It’s something deeply part of the history of the country and the Republican party and, loosely speaking, “conservatism” and what hope conservatism has for success. And, yes, it’s exactly the kind of idea the mainstream NR Right is so obtuse about, enamored of their own big ideas like spreading liberty and strong national security and Wall Street libertariansm. They think those a strong enough basslines to have carried the GOP from 1980 to today and beyond. They’re right about big ideas mattering in that respect, but they’re missing the really big ideas.

And all of Jonah’s examples in his last graph are little things that only bump elections a few points; we’re talking about things push the entire electorate into new loyalties, like Reagan’s Democrats and all the huge issues that moved them. Little things like Bush’s DUI don’t have to matter–shift the electorate fundamentally away from the GOP and the DUI matters even less because he loses anyway.

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