Posted by
David C. Innes on Thursday, May 29, 2008 5:51:52 PM
David Brooks has
reminded us
that, "recent vice presidential nominees haven’t had any effect on key
states or constituencies. They haven’t had much effect on elections at
all, except occasionally as hapless distractions." But conservatives
have serious questions about how faithful John McCain will be to
conservative principles and how competent he will be in handling issues
relating to the economy. (Of course, competency in economic policy
necessitates fidelity to conservative principles.) So I think it is
fair to expect that McCain's choice of running mate will send a
valuable signal to conservatives regarding his stewardship of the
Gipper's revolution, and to the nation regarding how seriously he takes
domestic economic concerns. We don't want grumpy conservatives staying
home this November.
My suggestion is Bret Schundler, the former
three term mayor of Jersey City. Schundler is a bona fide conservative
of the sort that we were searching for in this election cycle but could
not find.
Schundler is a political conservative.
He believes that in order for power to be responsive to the people,
government should be kept as local as possible and that people should
have as much control over their own affairs as possible.
That
is Reagan conservatism. But it is a conservatism that is genuinely
concerned about the suffering poor and, like Ronald Reagan, believes in
their ability to improve their own lives when freed to do so. As mayor,
Schundler empowered parents through a school choice program. With
vouchers, he multiplied the number of private and public options
available to parents. In politics, money is power, and so these
vouchers put parents in charge of the schooling services by giving them
the power to choose which school was likely to provide their children
with the best education.
Schundler is an economic conservative.
He believes, and demonstrated as mayor, that competition should be
introduced wherever possible to increase government efficiency and
reduce government corruption. He introduced reforms that reduced the
cost of school construction by 80%. In doing so, he significantly
increased the funds available for education without raising a nickel of
taxes. He privatized the management of the city's water utility. Water
purity levels became among the best in the nation while water rates
went down 25%.
Schundler is a moral conservative. He is pro-life and committed to everything that contributes to healthy families and a wholesome community life.
Schundler is a conservative evangelical,
but not the goofy kind a la Mike Huckabee or the spooky kind a la Pat
Robertson. He is an evangelical who lives and has succeeded in Jersey
City, not Virginia Beach or Arkansas.
I expect he would work very well with the nominee. In addition to being a disarmingly likable fellow...
Like
John McCain, Schundler has a record of working across the political
aisle. He was elected mayor with a slate of Democratic council members
committed to fighting corruption and empowering ordinary people. He
also crosses the aisle electorally. He won in Jersey City which was
overwhelmingly Democrat (were there any Republicans?), 30% black, 30%
Hispanic and 10% Asian. He was re-elected in 1993 with 70% of the vote.
Like
McCain, Schundler's opposition to corruption is in the marrow of his
bones. He is as honest as the day is long (to coin a phrase).
In 1999,
Bill Buckley told us
to watch for Bret Schundler as the Republican nominee in 2008. John
McCain could fulfill that prediction by tapping Schundler as his
running mate. Then we would also have a very Reaganesque candidate for
the White House in 2012 regardless of the outcome in November.
(
Bret Schundler presently teaches Policy In Depth at The King's College, and runs The Policy Center there. He just spent several days
in Albania promoting the principles of liberty and explaining how to reduce corruption in government.)