This Grand Old Party Ain't So Grand

In the first of a nine part series titled "Newt Gingrich is Not a Conservative," Jack Hunter says that the reason people think Gingrich is a conservative is because he has criticized Democrats for decades. "But simply being partisan does not a conservative make," Hunter argues.
"If so, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney could be considered conservatism personified. In a similar mold, Gingrich has rarely, if ever, been for smaller government. He simply believes Republicans can preside over big government more effectively."

This statement from Jack Hunter summarizes a major dilemma I've had during the years I've been interested in politics: I'm drawn to conservative ideas, but I can't stand the GOP. I have never thought highly of Bush, Boehner, McConnell, or any of the GOP leadership. I have never felt at home at all in the Grand Old Party.

I think the quote from Hunter shows why. The GOP doesn't fully embrace conservative ideas. Look at this quote from George Will, wherein he lists many of the conservative ideas that appeal to me. The number of Republicans over the years who fully endorse these ideas and who don't just pay them lip service are few:

“Ask yourself this: Suppose Gingrich or Romney become president and gets re-elected—suppose you had eight years of this. What would the conservative movement be? How would it understand itself after eight years? I think what would have gone away, perhaps forever, is the sense of limited government, the Tenth Amendment, Madisonian government of limited, delegated and enumerated powers—the sense conservatism is indeed tied to limitations on federal authority and the police power wielded by Congress—that would all be gone. It’s hard to know what would be left.”

What draws me to conservatism? The belief that human understanding is incredibly limited. That because of these limitations, it's best to limit the concentration of power and best to be skeptical when people want to change policies impulsively. Traditional conservatism as I understand it recognizes that human beings know very little and therefore should be cautious when handing power over to other human beings.

I don't think the GOP embodies that idea. 


Further reading: 
"Conservatism in the United States" 
(Of the many strains, I favor traditional conservatism and limited government conservatism as defined in this link.)