The Prince of Darkness and his heirs
by digby
Predictably, much of the right wing is writing off Bob Dole as a senile old jerk for suggesting that the party has become a little bit looney. But the great thing about the ancient among us is that they really don’t give a damn what people think and tend to speak the truth:
All true, you simply can’t dispute it.
I do, however, think W. James Antle III at The American Conservative makes an excellent point. Dole isn’t an innocent in all this. I watched him throughout my life, and at one point he was known as the GOP prince of darkness. The party certainly evolved far beyond him in abject meanness, but he cannot escape his role in shaping it:
Newt Gingrich, who became Dole’s partner in crime during the GOP Congress of 1995-96, is a good example of the party’s evolved brand. He led Republicans to their first House majority in 40 years, displaying a creativity that past Republican leaders conspicuously lacked. But he was undone by his excesses, cultivating an image of partisanship, over-the-top statements, and a penchant for unpopular crusades.
Today’s GOP is as much Gingrich’s party as Reagan’s or Nixon’s. Chest-beating often replaces prudence, the party frequently makes use of both libertarian and traditionalist themes without taking either of them very seriously.
The auther goes on to complain that none of these people are the one true conservative, as usual, but the point is correct, in my opinion. Dole previewed the nasty attitude that animates the right today. He may have been more of a legislative pragmatist, but his rhetoric was Gingrichian before Gingrich was cool.
Having said that, I must confess that I miss him. He was one of the funniest politicians in my lifetime. And I could really use some laughs.
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