David Brooks Blasts Conservatives

willisbros has the full NYT article. Central thrust is that true conservativism has been absorbed and mutated by the ruling Republicans. Brooks gives a line item indictment of the issues where the Republicans have failed and the issues they are not even bothering to address. $Q: When conservatism was in its most creative phase, there was a sharp distinction between conservatives and Republicans. Conservatives chased ideas, while Republicans were the corporate hacks who sold out. Now that conservative Republicans are in power, that distinction is obliterated. It's an important read for all Democrats, a trail of breadcrumbs that shows exactly where the Republicans are vulnerable in 2006 and exactly where the Dems should focus their attention. They have to chip away at the notion that conservative=Republican, an idea fostered by unofficial White House spokesmen like Limbaugh and Hannity. If Democrats develop and articulate clear and positive positions on the issues Brooks mentions the thinkers will run from the hacks. They're just waiting for an excuse: Dems can't sit back—they've got to go out and make it happen.