A “litmus test of conservatism”
George Will weighs in with a litmus test that’s new to us:
A man walking along the edge of a cliff slips and plummets toward jagged rocks and crashing surf, barely saving himself by clinging to the cliff’s face. But the cliff is too steep to climb, so he shouts, “Is anyone up there?” A voice fills the sky — God’s voice — saying: “Have faith and pray. If you have sufficient faith and pray well, you can let go and land gently, unhurt, amid the rocks and surf.” The man ponders this promise, then shouts: “Is there anyone else up there?”
This is the “Anyone else up there?” phase of the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, which explains the political flavor du jour, Fred Thompson…
One litmus test of conservatism is: Whom would you have supported for president in 1912? The candidates were a former president, Theodore “I don’t think that any harm comes from the concentration of powers in one man’s hands” Roosevelt; the incumbent president, William Howard Taft, and the next president, Woodrow Wilson. Conservatism warns against overreaching, hence rejects the energetic Wilson, would-be fixer-upper of the whole wide world. And conservatism teaches distrust of hyperkinetic government, the engine of which is the modern presidency, of which TR was the pioneer. So: Steady, prudent Taft.
It’s probably some kind of litmus test too if you can even name the candidates for President in 1912.