Andrew Sullivan: “Obama is, in my view, the conservative reformist of my dreams”

Your quote of the day, friends:

Noah MillmanΒ thinksΒ the “Obama Administration has been a quintessentially small-‘c’ conservative one, in that it has tried its best to preserve the status quo in just about every area”:

It would be helpful if commentators like Friedman would acknowledge not only that the Republican Party has become a right-wing populist party rather than a conservative one, but that the Obama AdministrationΒ isΒ the sensible, centrist conservative Administration they claim to want – and either declare their support (rather than wishing for a better opposition) or, if they don’t like the results, reconsider their centrist policy preferences.

Indeed. Which is why my support is so passionate, because Obama is, in my view, the conservative reformist of my dreams. Almost the entire Tory party in Britain would now fit comfortably in the Democratic Party – and Cameron is clearly closer to Obama than to Romney. In fact, there is no mainstream conservative party in the West even close to the GOP’s fundamentalist, revolutionary populism.

[…]

That’s why I have long been baffled as to why people said my preference over Obama was some kind of shift to the ideological left. Nope. Against a radical right, reckless, populist insurgency, Obama is the conservative option, dealing with emergent problems with pragmatic calm and modest innovation. He seeks as a good Oakeshottian would to reform the country’s policies in order to regain the country’s past virtues. What could possibly be more conservative than that? Or less conservative than the radical fusion of neoconservatism, theoconservatism and opportunism that is the alternative?

How I felt after I read that:

Any questions?

I think it’s time for lunch. If I see anything more like this I may REALLY bang my head against a wall a few times.

Related:Β New Obama ad: If you’re a conservative woman who likes small government, vote for Obama

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