The Rise of Anti-Fusionism

In the early days of National Review, William F. Buckley and Frank Meyer coined the term “fusionism” to describe their political philosophy. The goal was to wed classical liberalism (democracy and capitalism) with a kind of generic Judeo-Christian traditionalism. Some of today’s most prominent fusionists include David French, Yuval Levin, and Ben Shapiro. Fusionism has been the prevailing ideology of conservatism for a long time, but some brave anti-fusionists, such as Tucker Carlson and Sohrab Ahmari, are now questioning it.  To better understand this debate, some historical context is needed. In medieval Europe, most governments existed to preserve a hierarchy

Rudy Giuliani Calls for Two-Legged Stool

Former New York mayor and failed presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani thinks he knows why Republicans keep losing elections.  The problem, he claims, stems from the “soft underbelly” of the GOP that he thinks everyone else has somehow missed: social issues.  Ironically, Giuliani does this while blaming his own avoidance of life and marriage for his own 2008 defeat: “My opponent started focusing on that I was pro-choice,” said Giuliani. “Donald [Trump] announced he is pro-life, which is easier in the primary. I’m pro-gay rights. At the time gay marriage wasn’t a big issue. I’m now pro-gay marriage. I signed the

Why Does the Republican Party Exist?

The rebellion growing in the GOP ranks that Donald Trump is tapping into has found its voice.  Ben Domenech, publisher of The Federalist, watches what Republican leaders in Congress do and not what they say. And this is what he sees: Perhaps you believe the Republican Party exists as the party of limited government and free markets. This is impossible after the past weekend, where Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell went so far as to blatantly make the lie he told his fellow Senators – that no deal had been cut with interested Democrats during an earlier debate to reanimate

CPAC Drinking Game

American Principles Project, which has taken on a leadership role in advocating for full-spectrum conservatism, has staff members participating in four panels at CPAC this week. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25th, Emmett McGroarty (who is one of the principal architects of the Common Core rebellion) will be on the main stage for a Common Core panel. At 2:10 p.m. on Thursday, Terry Schilling, our young and smart executive director, will be speaking about monetary policy and its emerging role in Campaign 2016.  Alfonso Aguilar, a leading voice for common sense, pro-human dignity immigration policy, as well as a voice for Latinos for life, marriage,

Perry’s Two Legged Stool?

It was amusing to see Politico try to portray Gov. Perry’s APP gala speech as indicating “A new more, moderate Perry.” It was even more amusing when Drudge called Politico on it, linking to the article under the far more accurate headline: “Perry pumps up conservatives at DC Confab.” (That would be our gala). Perry gave a great and conservative speech.  But I noticed both at APP’s gala, and perhaps even more oddly at Steve King’s Iowa Freedom Summit on Jan. 24, Perry eschewed speaking at all about life, marriage or religious liberty, the classic “social issues.” He may see himself as