contrapositive

WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE? Any self-respecting conservative would have qualms about a president who turned a budget surplus into a deficit, overcommitted American troops, and responded to these developments by vowing to go to Mars.

Of course, few have been willing to put their reservations on the record during an election campaign. But in a subscription-only piece in the most recent issue of The New Republic, Franklin Foer squeezes blunt-spoken nuggets from a few right-wing bigwigs. Among them:

"People are careful about how they say it and to who they say it, but, if you're together with more than a couple conservatives, the issue of would we be better or worse off with Kerry comes up--and it's seriously discussed."--columnist Bruce Bartlett

"There's a sense that the is not a real Ronald Reagan anti-government conservative."--Stephen Moore of the Club for Growth

"The one message that rings true that Kerry has been pushing is when he says that we could not have been a better recruiting tool for Iraq."--Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation.

Not quite full-throated repudiation, but it's reassuring to see that some conservatives are no longer willing to parrot the party line.

If Bush loses, you can bet that these folks will be ready to pounce.