The Bush chapter of the Republican Party is closing, said Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times, and "the fight to write the next one has begun." On one side are traditional conservatives and Reaganites, "who believe that the party desperately needs to get back to the basics: limited government, low taxes, and strong defense." On the other side are reformists who insist that reform is the only way to win back middle-class voters.
The traditionalists will probably win the first round, said David Brooks in The New York Times. The party will "probably veer right in the years ahead, and suffer more defeats." Then Reformist donors and organizers will emerge, "and the cycle of conservative ascendance will begin again."
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