Good News In Conservative Revolt

Fred Barnes outlines six reasons behind the conservative revolt against Bush -- and only one of them begins with "Harriet." They are:

1. While definitely a conservative, Bush is an unconventional conservative.
2. He has not courted conservative leaders, leaving that to Rove, which worked just fine until the Plame Game boiled up.
3. The re-elected, not-running White House has turned arrogant and is putting its agenda ahead of the agendas of those in Congress who must seek re-election.
4. Bush is down in the polls, and Washington kicks people who are down.
5. MSM are happily exploiting and fueling the split.
6. The Miers nomination, which they view as a squandered opportunity that trivializes the significance of Supreme Court appointments.

There's a common cause in all of this, and Miers is nothing more than an enzyme that quicked a reaction.

A lot of conservatives are unhappy about this or that in the Bush agenda. Not tough enough on borders. Spending too much. Pushing, or not pushing, social security reform. Softening for political expediency on this point or that.

Miers gave all these factions an opportunity to coalesce, at least temporarily, for a bigger cause, legitimized by the always-running Reps and Sens, and happily covered by MSM, which has been waiting impatiently for a story like this.

The good news is none of the individual tweaks, rants and legitimate issues is stronger than Bush's fundamental conservatism, which Barnes detailed as:

His tax cuts, support for social issues, hawkish position on national security and terrorism, and rejection of the Kyoto protocols make him so. He's also killed the ABM and Comprehensive Test Ban treaties, kept the United States out of the international criminal court, defied the United Nations, and advocated a shift in power from Washington to individuals through an "ownership society." On some issues--partial privatization of Social Security is the best example--he is a bolder conservative than Ronald Reagan, the epitome of a conventional conservative.

And that's the beauty, see? For all the discomfort of the current situation, no one is saying the solution is for the party to move to a more moderate position. The next GOP candidate for president will have to push the conservative movement forward again, clearly and strongly; Miers' nomination has made that evidently clear.