Obama's Win Is An Indictment of Higher Education: "It shows in the absence of depth in so many Republican candidates. When you hear them speak, nothing in the tradition comes through--no Franklin on work ethic, Madison-Hamilton-Jay on power, Emerson on self-reliance, Hawthorne on Federal employment, Thoreau on Big Government, Booker T. Washington on individual responsibility, Willa Cather on the pioneer spirit, and Hayek on social engineering. This is a fatal deficiency, and it neglects one of the strengths of conservatism (superiority in the battle of ideas). Worse, when conservatives don't have the tradition in their background, when they lose elections, they tend to look forward by examining their relationship to the electorate instead of their relationship to first principles and values. Conservative candidates don't need more political calculation that competes with liberalism, but rather more intellectual heft that presents a better alternative to liberalism."
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