What the hell's she talking about?
I'm an admirer of Governor Whitman's, and I'd love to see socially liberal Republicans like herself assume a more prominent role within the party. Nevertheless, some of the quotes from her new book have left me scratching my head. She suggests, for example, that "antiregulatory lobbyists and extreme antigovernment ideologues" hold the GOP in thrall.
What the hell is she talking about? I would to God that there were "antigovernment ideologues" in this administration, but frankly I don't see it. If anything, this administration seems emblematic of the fact that conservatives have effectively surrendered the "smaller government" argument, having lost that debate in the marketplace of ideas.
I have plenty of complaints against this administration, but almost without exception, they seem to be examples of government doing too much rather than too little (the prescription drug bill, detaining U.S. citizens as enemy combatants, a proposed gay marriage amendment, and the FCC crackdown to name a few.) Add to this the runaway spending that has characterized Bush's first term and you really have to wonder what a Christie Whitman presidency would look like.