Fred Bauer is a writer and political commentator who focuses on conservative policy, philosophy, and Republican Party strategy. He contributed essays to The Weekly Standard between 2013 and 2016, exploring topics such as healthcare reform, the future of the GOP coalition, and the intellectual traditions of conservatism, often drawing on thinkers like Edmund Burke.
Why hasn't there been more disruption in Congress? Looking at the highly disruptive presidential primary campaign, some analysts are scratching their heads and asking that very question. In primary election after primary election, Republican congressional incumbents—such as Paul Ryan, John McCain,…
Just as the hippies made peace with material prosperity, the Democratic party has increasingly reached out to corporate America. The potential alliance between progressivism and big business could have major implications for American politics. If Republicans fail to offer an optimistic alternative…
At times of intense controversy, it can be a valuable exercise to turn to the works of the past not to escape the present but instead to gain a truer view of it. It is in this spirit that Edmund Burke's "Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol" offers a rewarding rereading.
Pundits on both the left and the right accuse Donald Trump of being a demagogue. Whether or not one agrees with that particular diagnosis, it's gratifying to see a variety of voices worrying about the dangers of demagoguery. Self-government demands rationality, realism, and restraint--all virtues…
Populism has upended the Republican presidential race, and a populist outcry against a globalist, corporatist elite echoes throughout the Western world. It’s possible for conservatives to channel some of the populist energies currently disrupting the American political scene. Conservatism and…
In late June, the Pew Research Center released "Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology." Breaking the nation's voting public into seven types (plus one type that does not regularly vote), Pew aims to give a more granular perspective on the nation's body politic. Pew's political map can be a…
Over the spring and summer of 2013, perhaps still sunning in his November 2012 victory and ideologically extrapolating from this win, President Obama attempted to press the case that skeptics about federal power were outré paranoiacs. At the Ohio State University commencement in May, the president…
Four of the most lamentably omitted words in American politics are the following: "in this present crisis." Conventional references to Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address note his declaration that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Reagan actually said,…
With New Jersey governor Chris Christie's announcement that he would accept funds for Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, the number of Republican governors accepting Obamacare Medicaid expansion money rises to eight: Jan Brewer (Arizona), Rick Scott (Florida), Rick Snyder (Michigan), Brian Sandoval…