Dennis Sanders, who describes himself as an independent-minded Republican, has an interesting post up over at his blog NeoMugwump. In it, he links to the Euston Manifesto (signed by liberals in an attempt to refocus on a set of basic values / principles).
We are democrats and progressives. We propose here a fresh political alignment. Many of us belong to the Left, but the principles that we set out are not exclusive. We reach out, rather, beyond the socialist Left towards egalitarian liberals and others of unambiguous democratic commitment. Indeed, the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between the forces of the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values. It involves making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not.
The present initiative has its roots in and has found a constituency through the Internet, especially the “blogosphere”. It is our perception, however, that this constituency is under-represented elsewhere — in much of the media and the other forums of contemporary political life.
The broad statement of principles that follows is a declaration of intent. It inaugurates a new Website, which will serve as a resource for the current of opinion it hopes to represent and the several foundation blogs and other sites that are behind this call for a progressive realignment.
The entire manifesto can be downloaded in PDF.
Dennis wonders why there is no “Euston Manifesto for the right and center right” and believes that it’s “needed”:
But this presents a question: why haven’t conservatives come up with something like this. At least here in the US, there are many who quite upset about the current trajectory of conservatism. Bloggers like Andrew Sullivan and John Cole are fairly upset at what is going on, so why are they not writing something that shows what conservatism should be instead of what is going on?
If there are any conservatives who read me, Republican or independent, would you be interested in developing a Manifesto of our own?
It’s a fair question and something that I’ve said as well: I am convinced that if the GOP wants to be able to compete in 08, it has to reinvent itself. My own party, the VVD, produced such a manifest a year ago or something. The result is an inspiring ‘book’, with clear general views on the economy, national security, etc. It’s not about specific policies, it’s about basic principles underlying foreign policy, national security, economy, etc.
Is such a manifesto useful? Yes, it helps individuals and the movement as a whole to focus. The VVD had been in power for years and years, it was necessary for it to go back to its roots, to the core principles of European liberalism (the VVD is our biggest conservative party; I’ve explained the situation in Europe a couple of times already).
The GOP has lost track of its conservative ideology. Instead of focusing on fiscal conservatism, it has focused on social conservatism. Instead of adhering to true conservatism as an ideology it has been kidnapped by partisans and religious conservatives. The GOP has emphasized social conservatism, while abandoning fiscal conservatism. Most people support the basic values of fiscal conservatism: if conservatives would focus on this aspect of conservatism, the potential for political victories in the future rises – as I see it – substantially.
(Updated twice: link to principles of VVD and to an article that appeared in today’s New York Sun about Giuliani)
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