Cheney for President

Ross Douthat’s much-anticipated first turn at the NYT:

At the very least, a Cheney-Obama contest would have clarified conservatism’s present political predicament. In the wake of two straight drubbings at the polls, much of the American right has comforted itself with the idea that conservatives lost the country primarily because the Bush-era Republican Party spent too much money on social programs. And John McCain’s defeat has been taken as the vindication of this premise.

Substantively, I think he brings a needed reasonable voice to the current conservative din – without the ego of David Frum or the questionable alignment of Andrew Sullivan. However, I hope his future columns will be more focused. This one covers too much ground for 800 words.