The other is to build a political machine in which business and the Republican Party can exchange mutual favors; business will lavish cash on politicians (called campaign contributions) while politicians will throw the money back at business (called public policy). Conservatism will always attract its share of young idealists.
And young idealists will always be disillusioned by the sheer amount of corruption that people like Gingrich and DeLay generate.
If yesterday’s conservative was a liberal mugged by reality, today’s is a free-marketer fattened by pork.
I have taken little joy in writing this book. Frankly, I once believed Republicans would be good at governing. But I was wrong: They have demonstrated that they can only rule for limited periods. As used in the pages that follow, “governing” is a craft, a skill, even an art; it is an effort to find common rules under which all can pursue happiness; “ruling,” in contrast, is merely reigning and exercising power.
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