Poetry

Ultimately, the problem for conservatives in justifying Bush v. Gore lies in the presence of two different visions of what conservative jurisprudence should be. On one side is the vision of judicial restraint—-Alexander Bickel’s “passive virtues”—in which the courts are guided by humility and a genuinely conservative conception of their limited power. On the other side is the more expansive view that the courts might play a useful role in implementing conservative political goals. The difference is between conservative methods and conservative outcomes, and the two are not always perfectly aligned. Some conservatives are coming to believe that, at least with respect to Bush v. Gore, the Rehnquist Court might have abandoned judicial restraint in an effort to implement a conservative outcome.

Even with a long-sought majority on the Supreme Court, many conservatives do not feel entirely comfortable with its playing an activist role. The conservative instinct is always on the side of government restraint, and this may account, at least in part, for the difficulty some have had in rallying to the defense of Bush v. Gore. It may be true that the liberal critique of Bush is no longer relevant to the nation’s political life, but the conservative critique may yet be. NR Not Our Kind, Dear

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Digby Anderson

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Ultimately, the problem for conservatives in justifying Bush v. Gore lies in the presence of two different visions of what conservative jurisprudence should be. On one side is the vision of judicial restraint—-Alexander Bickel’s “passive virtues”—in which the courts are guided by humility and a genuinely conservative conception of their limited power. On the other side is the more expansive view that the courts might play a useful role in implementing conservative political goals. The difference is between conservative methods and conservative outcomes, and the two are not always perfectly aligned. Some conservatives are coming to believe that, at least with respect to Bush v. Gore, the Rehnquist Court might have abandoned judicial restraint in an effort to implement a conservative outcome.

Even with a long-sought majority on the Supreme Court, many conservatives do not feel entirely comfortable with its playing an activist role. The conservative instinct is always on the side of government restraint, and this may account, at least in part, for the difficulty some have had in rallying to the defense of Bush v. Gore. It may be true that the liberal critique of Bush is no longer relevant to the nation’s political life, but the conservative critique may yet be. NR Not Our Kind, Dear