That was quite a refreshing series of essays, Eric. No doubt the fact that all come from the same place, and the Washington Monthly solicited the essays, will provoke shrieks of "conspiracy!", but it's hard to deny the stature of those six people as legitimate representatives of old-school Classic Conservatism. They demonstrate that they possess the virtues of reason and integrity that are sorely lacking in the New Right; it's the contrast that makes me nostalgic for the Classics.

A common thread was praise of divided government, which is direct rebuke against the New Right's noxious fantasy of a "permanent Republican majority". Several went on to expand on the Founders' intentions and the virtues of their solution of checks and balances for keeping us out of trouble...exactly the kind of trouble we've gotten into after six years of one-party rule.

None of them rejects the GOP and thus are not open to the charge of being traitors to the cause. This other common thread represents party loyalty with a long perspective: Losing the next couple of elections will lead to a purge of the party and restoration of its traditional values and leadership, which will reinvigorate the GOP and put it in a better position to win elections in the future. Sounds good to me too--I might not agree with the policies of Classic Conservatives, but up until the New Right came along in 1994, I didn't have to worry that Republicans in power threatened the very existence of America.

I'm sure that there's a lot of really ugly negative campaigning going on out there, but this election most of it's rolling off my back like water off a duck. What's more interesting is how both parties seem to be rediscovering their hearts and souls. Republicans are remembering their traditional core virtues and strengths, and rejecting extremism. Democrats have found their long-lost spines and recovered their voices to stand up for what they believe. Powerful new voices like Keith Olbermann are emerging to give focus to Democrats again. America will be better off after this election than it was before, no matter the outcome. We've been long overdue for a housecleaning on both sides.