"I Feel It In Me Bones" ~ anonymous sailor

An air of "intellectual conservatism" is on the verge of wafting through Massachusetts. Since Charlie Baker announced on Wednesday, story after story about him, his role at Harvard Pilgrim and the race for governor has been published in the Boston Globe . Cap the week off with the lead piece on the first page of The Sunday Globe's Ideas section about conservatism by Drake Bennett and there could have something new stirring in the state, call it thoughtful republicanism perhaps.

The author writes that "Some of the most prominent voices in the broader conservative coalition have begun to worry that the movement is suffering from a problem it hasn't had for generations: intellectual fatigue. In op-eds and articles and blog posts and speeches, these thinkers worry that last fall's electoral defeats signaled that conservatives are no longer articulating persuasive modern ideas that translate into compelling politics. " (Bennett, p.C1) Mr. Bennett highlights four "thinkers"and their ideas, Luigi Zingales, W. Bradford Wilcox, Megan McArdle and Reihan Salam.

Although I do not agree with everything said, I find the fact that conservative ideas are beginning to be bantered about and taken seriously as refreshing as a summer breeze.

Boston Sunday Globe, July 12, 2009, Ideas section, "The next conservative thinkers" by Drake Bennett, p.C1
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/07/12/the_next_conservative_thinkers/?page=1