David Boaz and David Kirby of Cato make a pretty good argument here that Karl Rove’s strategy of trying to win by firing up the supposed GOP “base” will lead to defeat and that a much better idea would be Dick Morris-like “triangulation” aimed at libertarian voters. By “libertarian,” they don’t mean just hard-core, minimal state Libertarians, but generally people who are fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
I wonder if it wouldn’t be possible to make a new political party out of unhappy Republicans who lament that the GOP has become the party of unrestrained federal spending, expanding the welfare state, and trying to stop internet gambling and unhappy Democrats who similarly dislike unrestrained spending and don’t like the fact that “their” party has been captured by the trial lawyers, union bosses, green radicals and Wal-Mart haters.
