I had the pleasure of meeting Wall Street Journal Editorial Writer John Fund.
At the Santa Barbara retreat sponsored by David Horowitz, the best and brightest assembled to discuss serious issues. This was not a pep rally. It was a policy conference. To have a conference with the best and brightest on political issues mandates that the Wall Street Journal be represented.
While I have backed away from the claim that “The Wall Street Journal is never wrong,” this is only because the uneducated with time on their hands would then start cherry picking.
Without giving details that Mr. Fund would probably not want discussed, he did seem exasperated with some people at the conference that would not stop frothing at the mouth over illegal immigration. It is one thing to have passionate beliefs. It is another to force your beliefs down the throats of others. Conservative activists are just as unpleasant to me as liberal activists. I am proud to be a “Wall Street Journal Conservative,” and I let Mr. Fund know this. He was in better spirits when some of the more rabid de facto border guards were given tranquilizers in their food. No, not really.
While he has agreed to do an interview with me, for now I present his remarks from the panel he was on.
“In an era of declining readership for other newspapers, the Wall Street Journal has grown in circulation and ad revenue. “
“Things have not changed since Rupert Murdoch and Newscorp purchased the Wall Street Journal. The only difference is that the receptionists answer the telephone, ‘G’Day Mate.’”
“David Horowitz spoke earlier about the psychological warfare of the left. There are two types of leftists. The first group are the ideologues. The second gorup are those that want to win a governing majority.”
“Since 1944, no democrat has won a majority of the vote except for LBJ. The United States does not naturally elect democrats. Bill Clinton initially won 43% of the vote, and only received 49% in his reelection against Bob Dole, who was not a strong candidate. Jimmy Carter did not win 50.1% as is sometimes reported. He won 49%.”
“Republicans have had a Bush, Nixon, or Dole on the ticket every election since 1948 except one (1964).”
“The media, their surrogates, and the deepest areas of the Bush cabinet do not like getting their ankles wet. This demoralizes the GOP months before the election, so that there is no need for us to fight.”
“Americans have only one vote. They want to just get on with it and get it over with. They focus on the Fall election after the World Series is over.”
“Democrats worry about the issues. They could start by buying Michael Barone’s Almanac of American Politics. Yes, I was one of those 12 year old policy nerds that bought my first one over 20 years ago.”
“This is a center-right nation, which is why the left has trouble. Even on health care, the democrats are only ahead in the Spring. If the republicans stick to issues, they will win.”
“Even Obama would not make Nancy Pelosi the Secretary of State. Her tray table is not in its full and upright position.”
“Gerald Ford made up 30 points against Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan was behind until late in the campaign against Jimmy Carter. Bob Dole was down 19 points to Bill Clinton, and came within 8 points. George Herbert Walker Bush trailed Michael Dukakis by 17 points in the spring, and won by 8 points. When Americans pay attention, the GOP moves up in the polls. It says a lot that John McCain is tied now.”
“The republicans have a shallow gene pool, but the democrats are like kids on blind dates that keep falling in love. They fell in love with Carter, Kerry, Dukakis, and now Obama. Then they go to family functions, and the relatives don’t like them. He looked so good in the beginning, and then the family meets him and says, ‘but his eyes are so creepy.’”
“Barack Obama talks about ethics on the campaign trail, but he was silent on the issue in Illinois. Illinois has had a governor indicted again, this one a democrat, and the previous one a republican. David Axelrod is Obama’s campaign manager. He also, like everybody else in Chicago politics, worked for Mayor Daley. He also produced the documentary on Pastor Pfleger.”
“The GOP has one equivalent of a Hail Mary Pass they can throw. It was first tried in 1996, with success. An ad should ask what is in store in the future if the democrats controlled everything. In 1996, the ad said, ‘Annoy the media, vote republican, don’t give Bill Clinton a blank check.’ Voters like divided government.”
The democrats have an ace up their sleeve. Obama was a lawyer for ACORN, which is a large voter fraud organization.”
“The GOP loses if we give up and ignore history.”
In meeting Mr. Fund, I let him know that he was not alone in understanding that one can disagree with others on one issue and still be a good conservative. I want dead taxes and dead terrorists. Mr. Fund concurred.
While I was speaking later that night with Tammy Bruce, he came over and said hello. He was genial, and he liked my recommendation that we just raise taxes on liberals and give the money to conservatives, which would make everybody happy.
His mind is sharp, and his arguments are simple, yet piercing, logic.
I would expect nothing less from the Wall Street Journal. They are the gold standard of news in America.
For those who want proof of this, just look at the numbers. People are actually reading it.
This can only lead to a brighter nation.
eric