Reagan's Echo

Here is Ronald Reagan's poetic tribute to the triumphs of William Buckley and his National Review. Anyone looking to get a sense of what Buckley accomplished over the past fifty years will learn a good deal from this encomium, from another American great. I'm hoping that Buckley's passing will give conservatives, and in particular Republicans in the mold of John McCain, cause to reflect on the direction of the movement. It's encouraging to see unabashedly conservative provocateurs like Mark Steyn, Rich Lowry and Jonah Goldberg, among others, carrying the banner of conservatism in print. My concern is the oft' noted tendency of the namby-pamby Republican to dilute his conservative orthodoxy, as per the demands of the more "balanced mainstream" in America. In the process, they often seek to distance themselves from the intellectual mainstays of the conservative cause. When Republicans are conservatives first, they win elections, when they jilt conservatism out of embarrassment or the fear of giving offense to the undecided vote, they become ineffectual and lose to the likes of politicians like Barack Obama.

http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.p?ref=/document/reagan200406100924.asp