Fred Thompson, Conservatism, and Federalism
Joe Carter is losing some of his first love for [tag]Fred Thompson[/tag]. He says:
Now I’m not so certain. His views of the federal marriage amendment, the Schiavo case, and his general position on federalism are troubling. For me, conservatism trumps federalism, while the position Thompson endorses seem to reverse that order.
On the fundamental point, I agree with Carter. [tag]Federalism[/tag] is not essentially conservative or liberal. It’s simply a way that we divide power. But I must say that this tendency on the part of Thompson, of which I wasn’t aware, makes me much more likely to look at him myself. I’m afraid I don’t see why conservatives would be annoyed by his view on the [tag]federal marriage amendment[/tag] (I would oppose any federal amendment on this issue), and his view on the Schiavo case, insofar as I’ve read it, is right on.
I’m an advocate of federalism, and even believe we should roll back a significant amount of the centralization that we have done thus far, and I’m somewhere center-left on social issues and lean libertarian otherwise. I guess that makes me a poster child for the “federalism is not essentially conservative” view.
The main reason I wanted to call attention to this post, however, is because it expresses conservative goals much more clearly than many others. Some believe that one should vote for conservatives as a way to support federalism. In fact, social conservatives see their socially conservative goals as more important than the constitutional form of government and the 10th amendment in particular.
In fact, social conservatives see their socially conservative goals as more important than the constitutional form of government and the 10th amendment in particular.
In a sense, you’re right. We do place a higher priority certain things, like justice and the right not to be killed, than we do on a particular form of government. For example, I don’t think that the state has the right to kill someone without due process of the law, as was done with Terri Schiavo. If you put federalism above peopleas some conservatives have donethen it is perfectly acceptable.
But you’re completely wrong about the 10th Amendment. Social conservatives just prefer to focus on the final words ” reserved to the people” rather than turning over the reigns of power to the states. The legitimate powers of the state are limited. It cannot be used to redefine other pre-political institutions (i.e., marriage) and should have a smaller role in other spheres (e.g., schools).