Contradictions in Chicago

The Young Americans for Freedom got it together in Chicago recently, answering a number of political questions and raising others. The conservative youth group is now 15 years old, and has established itself as a permanent feature of the political landscape. Its progress and prosperity have been integral to the growth of American conservatism, and as such bear witness to the strength of the right- ward impulse in our politics. Yet the group is in a strangely unfocused condition—and that is also testimony to the state of conservatism generally.

In the course of their four-day convention, the YAFniks heard from the usual quota of speakers, attended the usual banquets and seminars, and settled their usual intramural debates (Jeff Kane of Oregon was elected chairman). They cheered such heroes as William Buckley, Jesse Helms, and Ronald Reagan, and made their Rea- ganism formal in a presidential balloting. They also adopted a hefty bundle of resolutions suggesting that they have not relented in the slightest from their essential conservatism on the issues.

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M. Stanton Evans

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William F. Buckley Jr.

The Young Americans for Freedom got it together in Chicago recently, answering a number of political questions and raising others. The conservative youth group is now 15 years old, and has established itself as a permanent feature of the political landscape. Its progress and prosperity have been integral to the growth of American conservatism, and as such bear witness to the strength of the right- ward impulse in our politics. Yet the group is in a strangely unfocused condition—and that is also testimony to the state of conservatism generally.

In the course of their four-day convention, the YAFniks heard from the usual quota of speakers, attended the usual banquets and seminars, and settled their usual intramural debates (Jeff Kane of Oregon was elected chairman). They cheered such heroes as William Buckley, Jesse Helms, and Ronald Reagan, and made their Rea- ganism formal in a presidential balloting. They also adopted a hefty bundle of resolutions suggesting that they have not relented in the slightest from their essential conservatism on the issues.