Conservatism's centre

McCain represents the best of the US conservative tradition going back to Hamilton, Lincoln and in recent times Ronald Reagan. He understands that a limited federal Government does not mean a weak or an isolationist one. As a proponent of campaign finance reform, he has taken a principled position. The greatest danger to the high ground of believers in free markets is the embrace of crony capitalism. And no individual is immune from this temptation. Not the leaders of Britain’s Labour Party who distribute peerages in return for hard cash and not Indian ministers who love sweetheart deals with favoured industrial magnates. It was a Republican — Teddy Roosevelt who pioneered anti-trust legislation; he understood that the immensely wealthy in cahoots with their political buddies could spell the death-knell of markets by pre-empting free entry of new entrepreneurs.

An election financing regime which favours those who can raise large sums of money (none of which comes in without the prospect of a future quid pro quo!) can lead to the rise of a corrupt self-perpetuating oligarchic elite that is inimical to democracy. That McCain has stuck to the core principles of conservatism, even at the cost of alienating potential supporters, shows his abiding belief in preserving the larger system which guarantees the freedoms of citizens.

Indian politicians who in the days of the permit-licence raj thought they were ‘controlling’ businessmen discovered that in fact they became puppets of the very capitalists they railed against, who conveniently sold shoddy goods to Indian consumers while blocking the entry of competitors. More perniciously, this system allowed for a mutual back-scratching situation while the country was stuck with the Hindoo rate of growth. To this day, many of our ministers cling to discretionary powers which they generously use to help their friends in business. ‘Contribution to party funds’ is the euphemistic expression. And the returned favour is invariably against the interests of common citizens.

On immigration, McCain has a pragmatic position in keeping with conservative views of empirical realism being the acid test in politics. The fact of the matter is that there is no practical way in which the US can expel millions of illegal Mexican immigrants who are already inside the tent. Any attempt to do so would need a gargantuan and intrusive police state — a state that neither Hamilton nor Reagan would have approved of. The only realistic option is some kind of ‘guest worker’ programme. The details can be endlessly debated. The broad contours of this solution are a fall-out of the ground reality. It might make good political sense also. To drive the growing Hispanic voter group into the arms of the Democratic Party can hardly be smart politics.

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