The funny thing about the Holy War now raging in the Republican Party is that there was never supposed to be one—not this time, not after eight years in the wilderness, not after Gingrich flamed out, not after one faithful conservative candidate after another collapsed in ruins in 1998. Leave the fratricide to the Democrats; leave the theological weight lifting to Forbes and Keyes and Bauer and Quayle. Both George W. Bush and John McCain were heirs to the victory wing of the party, not the purity wing; both based their appeal on being conservative enough to win the purists but expansive enough to capture the radical center as well.
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