Andrew Sullivan writes:

REAGANITES VERSUS BUSH: Doug Bandow joins the growing throng of principled conservatives unwilling to give Bush a second term. Money quote:
Quite simply, the president, despite his well-choreographed posturing, does not represent traditional conservatism — a commitment to individual liberty, limited government, constitutional restraint and fiscal responsibility. Rather, Bush routinely puts power before principle.One wonders why this kind of piece isn’t published by the Weekly Standard or National Review.

ME Uh, maybe because they disagree? These little jabs get so tiresome. Note the implied lack of principle of those who don’t join the “throng.”

Moreover, while I can’t speak for the Standard, National Review (and NRO) have criticized many different aspects of Bush’s conservatism. How many time does Ramesh have to write cover stories lambasting Bush’s big government conservatism for NR to get credit for them?

Also, it just strikes me as silly to suggest — as Andrew so often does — that a “principled conservative” must prefer John Kerry as President (during a war). Can’t a principled conservative say, “Golly I don’t like This and I don’t like That but Bush is obviously preferable to Kerry”?

I thought part of traditional conservatism was a certain degree of realism about taking the world as you find it. I respect Bandow and others who disagree with me on this, but I reject completely the idea that a “principled,” “traditional,” “fiscal” or any other label Andrew conjures requires voting for — or otherwise hoping for — the election of the far more liberal presidential candidate. What bothers me about Sullivan’s swipes at conservatives who disagree with him is the impulse to whip the troops into line by telling them there’s no room for disagreement. How many times has Sullivan crafted sentences which say that it’s “obvious” that “no” “fiscal” conservative can vote for Bush? For all his lamenting of “popular front conservatism” it sometimes seems that Andrew’s real gripe is that he can’t dictate the precise terms of a Popular Front — led by him.