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The right future

James Forsyth

Monday, 28th January 2008

Down here in Florida it is made for TV politics. Rather than town hall meetings we have campaign stops in aircraft hangers. Indeed, you feel like you have walked onto a movie set where they are filming a political rally rather than an actual event.

In this state which is chock full of military bases and where four in ten of the population have a family tie to the military, McCain’s record of service is a huge aspect of his campaign. Those introducing McCain talk about his heroic service and fortitude in Vietnam. The argument they make for McCain isn’t about policy but character.

McCain’s message hits three themes. The first is fighting pork barrel spending and President Bush has given him a timely boost by announcing a new clampdown on it in tonight’s State of the Union which allows McCain to both claim credit and express support for the president which is useful ahead of this primary where only registered Republicans can vote. The second is green technology which he calls “the future of this nation.” Finally, but most importantly, he talks about the war against Islamic extremism and his vision for fighting it.

It is tempting to view McCain’s tripos as idiosyncratic—a product of his own life experience and particular interests. But that would be a mistake. What McCain is outlining is a new conservatism, an election-winning agenda for the centre right in the 21st century, which believes in fiscal conservatism, small but competent government, the ability of science and technology to allow society to respond to global warming in a way that boosts rather than constricts economic growth and a full spectrum response to the ideological war being waged on modernity by Islamic extremists.

It is one of the may ironies of this race that it is McCain the 71 year old who is sketching out a conservative agenda for the future while Mitt Romney, 60, is offering northing more than a barely updated medley of old hits. The Conservatives and David Cameron would benefit greatly from a McCain candidacy as it would prompt the centre-right across the English speaking world to fully engage with the two new issues that have burst onto the political scene in recent years: the struggle against Islamic extremism and the environment.