"Conservatives, please. Let's not duplicate the manias of the Left as we figure out how to deal with Mr. Obama. He is not exactly the anti-Christ, although a disturbing number of people on the Right are convinced he is"
About this Quote
David Horowitz, a former radical of the Left turned conservative polemicist, urges the Right to resist the intoxicating pull of moral panic as it confronts Barack Obama. The jab at conservatives who brand Obama the anti-Christ is not merely about tone; it is a strategic and moral rebuke. Hyperbolic demonization turns politics into theology, casting opponents as embodiments of evil rather than as rivals to be debated. That move may gratify the already convinced, but it repels persuadable voters and makes serious critique harder to hear.
The context is the early Obama era, when birtherism, dire warnings of socialism, and apocalyptic rhetoric flourished in some conservative circles, mirroring the Lefts earlier manias about George W. Bush as a fascist war criminal. Horowitzs admonition doubles as a memory of that symmetry. When both sides indulge in totalizing narratives, public life becomes a contest of excommunications, not arguments. The result is strategic self-sabotage: opponents are fortified by the spectacle of their critics looking unhinged.
Implied is an older conservative ethic of prudence. Fight over policy, yes, and fight hard: the scope of federal power, health care design, regulatory overreach, constitutional boundaries. But pursue that fight with sobriety and evidence, not eschatology. Such discipline separates loyal opposition from hysteria and keeps the movement anchored to first principles rather than to conspiracy and grievance.
Horowitzs background strengthens the warning. Having seen the Left from the inside, he recognizes how zealotry can become a substitute for thought and how it corrodes institutions and movements. His counsel is not a plea for moderation of conviction but for clarity of method: trade caricature for analysis, invective for persuasion, fevered identity for civic argument. Treating Obama as a political leader within a constitutional order rather than as a demonic figure preserves the integrity of conservative critique and the possibility of governing when the pendulum swings.
The context is the early Obama era, when birtherism, dire warnings of socialism, and apocalyptic rhetoric flourished in some conservative circles, mirroring the Lefts earlier manias about George W. Bush as a fascist war criminal. Horowitzs admonition doubles as a memory of that symmetry. When both sides indulge in totalizing narratives, public life becomes a contest of excommunications, not arguments. The result is strategic self-sabotage: opponents are fortified by the spectacle of their critics looking unhinged.
Implied is an older conservative ethic of prudence. Fight over policy, yes, and fight hard: the scope of federal power, health care design, regulatory overreach, constitutional boundaries. But pursue that fight with sobriety and evidence, not eschatology. Such discipline separates loyal opposition from hysteria and keeps the movement anchored to first principles rather than to conspiracy and grievance.
Horowitzs background strengthens the warning. Having seen the Left from the inside, he recognizes how zealotry can become a substitute for thought and how it corrodes institutions and movements. His counsel is not a plea for moderation of conviction but for clarity of method: trade caricature for analysis, invective for persuasion, fevered identity for civic argument. Treating Obama as a political leader within a constitutional order rather than as a demonic figure preserves the integrity of conservative critique and the possibility of governing when the pendulum swings.
Quote Details
| Topic | Reason & Logic |
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