Peter Wehner, a former deputy assistant to President George W. Bush, and currently a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, writing this morning in the Wall Street Journal, asserts that Barack "Obama's record reveals him to be a doctrinaire liberal." Mr. Wehner picks up on a point with which Bosque Boys readers are familiar, but furthers the discussion with an enumeration of offensive policy positions and a helpful analysis of how the Republican candidate, John McCain, might address this unexpected opportunity:

"Mr. McCain needs to present a compelling case on the foundational beliefs that divide liberalism and conservatism – on matters like the size and role of government, competition and accountability in education, health care, and whether higher taxes encourage or retard economic growth. Mr. McCain also needs to force a debate on the proper role of the judiciary, the protection owed to unborn children and the rights owed to unlawful enemy combatants, and whether promoting liberty should be a central aim of American foreign policy in combating militant Islam.

"Mr. McCain needs to become an educator-in-chief on matters of political philosophy. He won't be able to fulfill that role nearly as well as Reagan, who was a philosophical conservative in the way that Mr. McCain (and most other Republican politicians) is not. And Mr. McCain himself has, until now, been sui generis on matters of conservatism. His challenge is to make his case well enough to convince Americans not only that Mr. Obama is a liberal, but that having a liberal in the White House would do real damage to our country."

We welcome this constructive addition to this increasingly vital and relevant conversation.