In 1975, when liberalism was on the march around the world, Reagan called for the rebirth of the GOP as a party “raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people.” A few months later, he declared that “I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism” — that is, the belief in small government.
Reagan’s stated beliefs made him the object of ridicule among those who considered themselves intellectuals, but he stuck to his guns. And then, in 1980, when the failures of Big Government were evident to all Americans, the people turned for leadership to the presidential candidate who had been right all along.
Over the last eight years, President Bush sought to tame Big Government and turn it to conservative ends. The administration experimented with the belief — as expressed by Huckabee, Gerson and Kristol — that Republicans and conservatives would do better by rejecting small-government conservatism and accepting Big Government. For generations, Democrats had bribed people to vote for them with one Big Government program after another, so Republicans did the same (No Child Left Behind, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, endless deficits and, finally, the bailouts). The results of the experiment are now in: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, President-elect Barack Obama.
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