The era of small government is not over

I understand why the folks at CATO can't stomach voting for Bush; I certainly don't want to be a progressive conservative. (It hurts to even look at those two words juxtaposed.) But while I mostly agree with CATO on Bush's domestic policy, foreign policy trumps this and keeps me supporting Bush, as I've mentioned before.

Looking beyond this fall's elections, are folks like David Brooks right? Can I expect any other conservatism besides the "compassionate" kind from Republicans? I don't believe Brooks' vision is the future. The Republicans can't keep their majorities with a small government platform alone, but nor can they keep their majorities without it. The War won't be equally important every election year, and when domestic policy matters more, the Republicans will need the votes of small-government supporters just as much as the votes of folks like Brooks.