Politics and the support of Israel
Who do you think is better for Israel. Democrats/liberals or Republicans/conservatives?
Whew. Before I dive in, let me clarify: I'm a Reynoldsian Orthogonal Moderate (ROM). And, I think SoccerDad falls into the same trap the rest of us have: associating "liberal" or "conservative" with the existing parties.
To get started, I think that liberalism has won. As a country, the US is among the least racist, most tolerant, has the strongest civil rights, gender equality, you name it. Our tax system is incredibly progressive. Liberals won! This is a good thing. The group that has taken over the Democratic party? Those aren't liberals. Those are socialists, and fundamentalist atheists, and pacificists, and proponents of mob rule.
As for conservatives? We all know that this is two groups, who sometimes overlap - the theocratic conservatives, who want to impose some odd sort of THX-1138 society on us all, and the fiscal conservatives, who would like government to just stop wasting so much money.
So right now, I think there are three parties; one of which can't be bothered to run any candidates.
You can really only get good support from one of the others, since the Democratic politicians can't stick to any agenda other than "oppose Bush."
By and large, the ROM party is the best support - they're friends, but of the sort who will also point out your flaws. Unfortunately, half the ROMs are Democrats, and half are Republicans. Oops. If they ever get their act together, this would be our best source of support.
The Republicans are the next best base - partly because the Republicans have become the de facto War Party - and never forget that we are in a long war. When you're in a the same war as one of your allies, you get the best support from the group that recognizes it.
The Democrats? Even when they're trying to show support, it's just a ploy to stick it to Bush. And as Peter Beinart says, "it's jingoism with a liberal face." We don't need supporters that will turn their back on us when another group comes pandering. And is it any surprise that universities - the hotbed of anti-Zionist propaganda - are also a bastion of Democratic professors?
So, SoccerDad, the answer to the way you asked it is "the Republicans." But somebody needs to get Glenn Reynolds off his chaise lounge and get him to organize the ROM party, because that's our stable base long term.
