Michelle Malkin » Shelby Steele: No, Obama’s victory is not a triumph for conservatism

Shelby Steele: No, Obama’s victory is not a triumph for conservatism

By Michelle Malkin • January 21, 2009 02:26 PM

Glad I’m not the only minority conservative who rejects the increasingly popular notion on the Right that Barack Obama’s ascension should be embraced as a moral victory for our side. The promise of post-racialism is a bogus one.

Shelby Steele, one of the most articulate voices on race matters, weighs in in the WSJ:

Barack Obama’s victory was an ideological defeat for modern conservatism and a devastating blow to the Republican Party. It wasn’t just a case of one centrist candidate slipping past another centrist candidate at the finish line. This defeat — helped along by a sinking economy — was on the level of ideas. It points to nothing less than a new and still unfolding Obama “progressivism” in which Keynes replaces Friedman and “trickle-down” gives way to “bottom-up.”

This progressivism sees economic inequality as America’s gravest problem, and blames it on the conservatism of free markets, lower taxes, fewer regulations and smaller government. It wants to engineer equality through redistributive tax policies, the restructuring of markets through increased regulation, an expansion of entitlements, and more governmental activism.

Of course the bad economy has checked some of Mr. Obama’s progressive ambitions. He will live with the Bush tax cuts for the time being, and he may include some business tax cuts in his stimulus package. But he clearly wants a more redistributive and socially activist government. And he will be helped in this by two unique sources of authority: the urgency of our economic troubles and his moral authority as the first black president. Again, I am not hopeful for him here, and I despair at seeing the moral capital of my race put to these ends.

Posted in: Race Hustlers, Race relations

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#600174

On January 22nd, 2009 at 8:41 pm, Virginia Patriot said:

GOP=WHIG
The Republican Party under GWB seems intent on political suicide. Pandering to citizens of other countries illegally in our country while telling us we must be vigilantes if we object to illegal aliens ignoring our borders and laws. Mel Martinez was RNC Chairman to ensure an open borders candidate in ‘08. The cheap labor express will be kept running, regardless of the consequences, to party or country.
GOP-RIP

I wrote that two years ago over at Townhall, warning of the disaster a McCain nomination would be. The GOP seem just as determined today to ignore the wishes of the citizens and more importantly, their voters.
#617032

On February 10th, 2009 at 9:40 am, Danceswithdachshunds said:

Look at the bright side, socialists always ends up running out of other people’s money, (just try to ignore the fact that that includes yours).
#618088

On February 10th, 2009 at 10:21 pm, ammonrae said:

I do agree with Shelby Steele. Obama defeated conservatism because conservatism basically stayed on the sidelines on racism and if they are not careful, republicanism and conservatism will become a dinosaur ideologies.