Manifestos at Dawn

Courtesy of Avik Roy and Michael Brendan Dougherty, we now have dueling op-eds about dueling manifestos. Yet it remains a bit obscure whose honor we are fighting over.

I was happy to sign Roy’s “freedom conservative” statement, agreeing as I do with the points it made, but if asked I would have been willing to sign the “national conservative” statement, too, with just a few modifications and clarifications. I can endorse almost everything in each group’s statement because neither engaged in negative generalizations about the other. Each statement reminds us of some important truths without providing enough grist for a factional dispute, let alone for a complete political platform.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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Courtesy of Avik Roy and Michael Brendan Dougherty, we now have dueling op-eds about dueling manifestos. Yet it remains a bit obscure whose honor we are fighting over.

I was happy to sign Roy’s “freedom conservative” statement, agreeing as I do with the points it made, but if asked I would have been willing to sign the “national conservative” statement, too, with just a few modifications and clarifications. I can endorse almost everything in each group’s statement because neither engaged in negative generalizations about the other. Each statement reminds us of some important truths without providing enough grist for a factional dispute, let alone for a complete political platform.