Ideologies never die, they are simply transformed temporarily into a new format. Communism isn't dead, it is simply awaiting the generation that will have historical amnesia and will be resurrected again. There is nothing new under the sun. We have been at war with Islam since it's inception. It is us in the west that forgot that. The Muslims have not. The pendulum always swings. Great leaders are always followed by the mediocre ones who screw things up.
In the end, Hart finds that “Bushism” has so subverted the principles of conservatism as to have “poisoned the very word.”
I have found this to be true, GWB's great falling won't be Iraq, it will turning turning "conservatism" into a slur.
At the end of the day however, Conservative issues still sway people, no one outside of Europe likes to be taxed, or to have Govt in their lives, or looks forward to "mandates" or relishes America no longer being a great nation.
We can survive GWB, but do we know how to?
Excellent point. Bush pretty much killed conservatism in this country. But it has been dead before and it can be resurrected again. We need another Buckley and Reagan in our future.