The Party Of Ideas

Conor Friedersdorf is getting flack for decrying the Palin nomination:

I am neither a political operative nor a campaign booster, and I take issue with the idea that I ought to write what I regard to be best for my country and those conservative convictions to which I ascribe only when it happens to be convenient for the electoral chances of the GOP.

Ross is disgusted by such purity tests. I have a feeling that in the future, being a pariah among fellow conservatives in this period will be a badge of honor. Conor should hang in. You can see the saplings of a new and real conservatism growing on the scorched forest floor of the Rove-Kristol GOP.