Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again

by David Frum

At a moment of crisis and pessimism for American conservatives, David Frum offers fresh ideas—and fresh hope.

Not in a generation has conservatism been in as much trouble as it is at the end of the Bush years. A majority of Americans say the country is “on the wrong track.” Voters prefer Democrats over Republicans on almost every issue, including taxes. The married, the middle-class, the native-born are dwindling as a share of the population, while Democratic blocs are rising. A generation of young people has turned its back on the Republican party.

Too many conservatives and Republicans have shut their eyes to negative trends. David Frum offers answers.

Frum says that the ideas that won elections for conservatives in the 1980s have done their job. Republicans can no longer win elections on taxes, guns, and promises to restore traditional values. It’s time now for a new approach,

A conservative commitment to make private-sector health insurance available to every American
Lower taxes on savings and investment financed by higher taxes on energy and pollution
Federal policies to encourage larger families
Major reductions in unskilled immigration
A genuinely compassionate conservatism, including a conservative campaign for prison reform and government action against the public health disaster of obesity
A new conservative environmentalism that promotes nuclear power in place of coal and oil
Higher ethical standards inside the conservative movement and the Republican party
A renewed commitment to expand and rebuild the armed forces of the United States—to crush terrorism—and get ready for the coming challenge from China

Frum’s previous bestselling books have earned accolades for their courage and creativity from liberals and conservatives alike. Today, with the conservative movement and the Republican Party facing their greatest danger since Watergate, Frum has again stepped forward with new ideas to take conservatism—and America—into a new century of greatness.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

David J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency. His editorial columns have appeared in a variety of Canadian and American magazines and newspapers, including the National Post and The Week. He is also the founder of FrumForum.com (formerly NewMajority.com), a political group blog.

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

another awesomely bizarre book by Doucheghoul of the Underworld

one of the stranger and oddly-repelling personalities of our times

and he says some of the most freakin weird othings around .... and expects tons of people to follow him like the Pied Piper to weirdsville

........

Kirkus Reviews

The primary reason for the Republican Party’s recent election failures, argues a former Bush speechwriter, is that it has neglected to respond to changing demands.

When voters began abandoning the GOP for the Democrats (who now outnumber Republicans three to two), writes Frum (The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush, 2003, etc.), conservatives responded by retreating to “obsolete politics,” engaging in pointless debates about “issues that are in fact settled.”

Instead of arguing with voters, he suggests, Republicans should figure out new ways to appeal to the married, middle-class, white, churchgoing Americans who are their natural base.

Unfortunately, readers looking for such new ideas will be disappointed.

Most of Frum’s proposals have long been part of the Republican Party platform he accuses of alienating middle-class Americans: expansion of Bush’s unpopular No Child Left Behind Act; abolition of all affirmative-action programs; drastic cuts in immigration; privatization of Social Security; elimination of all taxes on wealth and corporations, including capital-gains and estate taxes on the very wealthy.

However, the book does feature one truly innovative proposal: a $50-per-ton carbon tax on those forms of energy that create the greatest environmental harm.

Frum makes this proposal not because he respects environmentalists—at one point, he suggests that ecologically concerned voters are among the most “ignorant” in the country—but because he believes America’s dependence on oil, including oil produced in America, threatens the nation’s economic security.

Environmentalist or not, the proposal is sure to cause a stir among Republicans, as much for its underlying premise that dirty energy sources should be taxed in order to subsidize more-expensive clean energy as for its acknowledgment that concern for the environment is an issue Republicans can’t afford to ignore.

Lively writing and one intriguingly contrarian proposal salvage an otherwise standard-issue conservative polemic.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author mostly speaks for the moderate wings, or the establishment Republican, with his middle-position stance on social issues, promoting free trade, and generally against the "stupid" conservatism, which promotes "more feeling, less thinking" mindset. He was writing in the aftermath of Bush presidency, and he seemed to be vindicated by the defeats of McCain and Romney in the hands of Obama. However, I wonder what is his reaction when Trump finally won the Republican candidacy and the presidency itself, all while espousing ideas and policies which the author opposes. I'd like to see his writing about that.

[s h · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an older, dated book, but it was interesting to read as I live through the “Age of Trump”.

I don’t think any of the issues we faced around 2007/2008 have been resolved and if anything the spiral into stagflation and irrelevance continues with a gathering steam.

[Parikshit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not very familiar with the conservative ideas. It was good to hear the take from the other side of the major liberal/socialist policy ideas that are being considered these days.

[Kevin Quinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frum's book certainly comes at an opportune time, with Republicans reeling from a slew of electoral losses and at an ideological crossroads with the political future of Sarah Palin and her ilk in the process. As a smart man and GOP insider, Frum was able to read the tea leaves and divine the challenges ahead. I credit him with trying to move forward, quite a different message from a party whose primary seemed to be a contest between who could do the best Ronald Reagan impression. He is also sharply critical of the Bush administration, a bandwagon which seems to include pretty much everyone these days save for GWB's immediate family and his loveable lapdog Karl Rove. That's all well and good, save for the important fact Frum worked in the Bush administration! He laments unheeded memos and policy directives which never materialized, but there is little to shield Frum from the allegation he simply "takes his finger and out and sees which way the winds blowin'" (courtesy of the incomparable Mrs. Palin) with regards to book sales. He published 'The Right Man,' which I have not read but can only imagine is a fawning portrayal of W's executive style. So I understanding changing your mind, I do it all the time, but either he should be more forceful condemning his earlier positions, or demonstrate his commitment to newfound principles by aggressively advancing them in the White House, otherwise his recommendations seem shallow or he is simply trying to cash in the prevailing mentality. I don't think its the latter, Frum is a principled conservative with some intelligent proposals, but there are few actionable suggestions and kept feeling the urge to say "why don't you do something about it!"

Plus the book reads like a glorified factsheet in some places, a tendency I also observed in "An End to Evil." If you really want to take a dipstick measure of the Republican party, I would instead recommend Richard Viguere's "Conservatives Betrayed"

[John Bailo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great at explaining the what of how conservatism has succeeded wildly in the past 30 years and become the dominant paradigm. The facts and stats in this book alone should be required reading for anyone trying to understand what's been happening. The parts I might disagree about are his policy suggestions. For myself, I don't think of Conservatives as Liberals with different policies...in fact, the author at times sounds more like a Liberal who conceded to the Conservatives a few years back. There is no symmetry in Lib-Con politics. Cons are anti-government and pro-individual. It's not about my health care plan versus yours. It's about the concept of having a single health care plan versus doing nothing. That's the real problem that Libs have never grasped about Cons. Cons have their own "systems" through their jobs and their money and communities. They see Government as superfluous, not something to be "made better". Cons vote with dollars and their brains and their businesses...I am not sure if Mr. Frum sees it that way, or if he just wants to carve a Lib style niche in a Cons style world...

[Sagar Jethani · Rating 1 out of 5]

David Frum's best-known work to date is: "The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush".

Let's state that upfront so we all understand the kind of person we're dealing with here.

Rather than offering a serious look at the causes of conservative decline, Frum trots-out the same banal list of liberal strawmen and Fox News half-truths to explain why Republicans have lost their electoral firepower. I approached "Comeback" with high hopes that the author would speak hard truths to a party which has so clearly lost its way. Instead, Frum is merely your garden variety political opportunist: content to support the disastrous presidency of George W. Bush, then don the mantle of a disillusioned supporter when it proves convenient to do so.

Nothing in "Comeback" offers a serious diagnosis for Republicans today. We must wait for more-capable writers to lead the party out of the political wilderness.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conservatism can always work David, it was the war stupid, we need to ‘master the details’, TX going to democrats, failed to note impact of 3 presidential candidates, missed efforts on soc sec psa accounts. And other items to agree with is the data that supports risk to children of single mothers, the risk to mothers for poverty, media bias and failure to tell the rest of the story, dems blame and support abortion extremists, ought grade obama by same standards as bush, focus on India to build relationships, learn from France re terrorism, corruption at UN where cost of admin consumes 1/3 of budget and is 10 times that of Food for the Poor or CRS, observe declining friends and rising rivals, enhance clarity-credibility-feasibility-sustainability.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the kind of conservative propaganda that makes me proud to be a Democrat. My favorite line, I think, was about how women are terrified of nuclear power (p. 122) - actually, someone used the word 'nuclear' the other day on the train and I started crying I was so scared. Possibly worth the two-hours-or-so it takes to read this - conquering the enemy and knowing the enemy go hand in hand, I suppose...

[David Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book with some decent ideas. David Frum is a disaffected, former low-level speach writer for Bush, and is often critical of the President in this book. Some are very legitimate criticisms. Other times Frum seems angry simply because the President has compromised with Democrats on some issues (imagine that- Republicans working together with Democrats, novel idea, huh?). Still, it was a pretty good book with some good thinking and rationale.

[Shirleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about politics and the differences between the Republicans and Democrats from reading this book. David Frum, the author, is a conservative who was a former special assistant and speechwriter to President George W. Bush. He is worried about the Republican party and advocates that the party needs some new fresh ideas.

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

A prescription for the Republican Party to recover from their poor public support after the 2006 elections. The author talks about many issues that currently favor the Democrats and how Republicans can win the argument on them. The author's intentions are good, but the remedies are not very radically different and, hence may not lead to electoral success.

[Jared Fontaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not agree with some of it. I hate how Republicans attack Affirmative Action. Also I did not like his support of a National Energy Tax. But the rest of the book is okay.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an internal civil war between conservatism and change.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was significantly more brisk than What's Right and Dead Right, but I'm always generous with Frum, whose line of thinking is similar to mine. Three point five stars.