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Excerpts from 'The Last Best Hope'

Read portions from Joe Scarborough's book.
/ Source: MSNBC

A return to conservatism:
Try to imagine that conservatism is not a political movement at all, but rather a guiding set of principles grounded in reality and restraint, and flexible enough to sustain America through the next century… British statesman Edmund Burke, the movement's founder, gained international attention 200 years ago with his stinging critique of the French Revolution. Burke and his followers championed customs and conventions that promoted social stability across the ages while declaring intellectual war against dogmas of all designs… But that approach is a far cry from where Republicans have ventured over the last generation.

On the free market approach:
One reason conservatives argue for government minimalism is that a hands-off policy allows markets to reward good decisions and punish bad decisions. The tip of the market spear is that it inflicts pain when stupid risks are taken by a business. Stupid companies die and capital flows to more productive enterprises. That leads to more jobs, an expanding business community, and a stronger nation. But in the land of bailouts, Republicans and Democrats alike do all they can to dull that point and let the dumbest actors survive.

On Ronald Reagan:
While Reagan was the most conservative president in half a century, his moderate personality allowed the Gipper to remain firmly in the mainstream of America's consciousness... The Ronald Reagan who revealed himself to American voters was always sunny in disposition, measured in tone, and gracious to those with whom he disagreed... Conservatives who wish to carry the mantle of Mr. Reagan would do honor to his memory if they focused as much on his moderate temperament as they did on his conservative philosophy.

On foreign policy:
The classically conservative values that should inform American foreign policy are prudence, restraint, and realism. Those values may be promoted best when conservatives adopt the Weinberger-Powell approach to war. The doctrine directs U.S leaders, in part, to use military intervention as a solution to international crises only after all other means of resolving the conflict are exhausted. History has proven that nothing more violently disrupts a nation's social order than warfare. The fact that conservatism is viewed currently as a movement predisposed to militarism is ironic, to say the least.

On regulation:
"Conservatives need to learn the difference between being pro-market and being pro-business. We must also remember the lessons of Burke, Kirk, and Buckley that taught us how it is the conservatives' job to bring social order out of chaos. That means fighting to keeps regulations out of small businesses' way, but recognizing that order can be brought to the street only by regulating recklessness out of the system."