What is Compassionate Conservatism?

February 7, 2003

Now that we are moving into year 3 of Bush 2 I think we should revisit the president's mantra of "compassionate conservatism." Or to simply ask: what is compassionate conservatism?

Is compassionate conservatism, conservatism with all of the great tax cut flavor, but with one-third less hatred? Is it feeling your pain and doing nothing, rather than simply ignoring it altogether? Is it blaming Washington for the ills of the nation Monday through Saturday, while keeping the Sabbath holy?

I soon realized that part of my problem was embracing compassionate conservatism as something that worked in tandem, I was wrong. Clearly, it is not possible to have compassion and conservatism simultaneously.

Furthermore, I made the mistake of assuming that the word order inferred that one could initially expect compassion before conservatism, wrong again!

But after the Republicans successful mid-term election gains, I soon discovered what compassionate conservatism was meant to be, when the president called for the following:

Tax Cuts: the Holy Grail to which all conservatives hold dear. To stimulate the economy the president proposed $670 billion in so called stimulus with $370 billion going to a dividend tax cut that not even conservative writer George Will believes has any stimulus capability.
Tort Reform: The president wants to make suing insurance and industrial companies more difficult for asbestos-related claims. This is clearly and example of how the compassion and conservatism do not work in tandem.
Health Care: The president wants to set up a plan for private insurers to cover prescription costs instead of a federally managed program. The president wants some of the largest contributors to his campaign to oversee fair, just, equitable pricing for prescription drugs for seniors. Word association: accountability? Answer: unregulated pharmaceutical companies.
Energy: The president, in lieu of challenging American auto manufactures to design and build more fuel-efficient cars, wants to promote more oil drilling in the United States. This is why Jesus will drive a Cadillac Escalade.

I really become confused about this compassionate conservatism when it comes to race. I do not believe that the president is racist per se. I do believe that it is not beneath his moral character to do what it takes to win.

I understood that during the 2000 South Carolina primary, when victory was uncertain that he had to visit Bob Jones University and suggest that flying the Confederate flag was a state issue. Or was that states rights?

Since the election he continues to "flirt" with race. The president was strong in his condemnation of Trent Lott's longing for the return of "Dixiecrat" politics. Yet, he was not as forceful, in fact he was silent, as he campaigned in Georgia last year for Sonny Perdue against the incumbent Governor Roy Barnes. Perdue made returning the Confederate portion of the Georgia state flag one of his hallmark issues during the gubernatorial campaign.

The president has once again nominated a judge who seems to demonstrate more compassion toward those who burn the crosses than those who are the recipients of such acts. The president has even found time during his busy compassionate conservative schedule to submit to the Supreme Court his opposition to the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy.

I am not going to open a debate about the pros and cons of affirmative action, however, one has to wonder how such an issue can find its way on the presidents agenda with Iraq, Al Queda, North Korea, Venezuela, and the U.S. economy all rearing their heads simultaneously?

But the purpose of this piece was to revisit compassionate conservatism as a concept. After much analysis, I have concluded the following: Compassionate conservatism is a brand of conservative thought, adopted by President George W. Bush, whereby one begins with basic fundamental tendencies closely associated with traditional right wing divisive politics, and from there gradually move to the right.