Thinkers vs. Doers
On Wednesday, June 20, 2007, AFF hosted a roundtable on thinkers vs. doers. Conservatives and libertarians share some core principles that guide their policy agendas, but once theorizing gives way to politics, compromise is the name of the game. We therefore often seem divided into two camps: "thinkers" and "doers." Those of us who toil in the realm of ideas and ideals -- policy wonks, journalists, academics -- and those of us in the sausage-making trenches -- politicians, staffers, lobbyists. "Thinkers" sometimes accuse "doers" of favoring the politically expedient over the principled, and being more concerned with winning an election or a vote than sticking to principles. "Doers," meanwhile complain that "thinkers" are living in a bubble, oblivious to political reality. If you don't get dirty, they say, you won't make change. Who's right and who's wrong? Are they both sides of the same coin? Or is politics something apart from -- and maybe opposed to -- ideas?
Discussing the issue were former White House political strategist Raul Damas, Gene Healy of the Cato Institute, Georgetown Law Visiting Professor Sasha Volokh, and Sarah Longwell of Berman and Company. Brian Hooks of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University will moderate.
Audio
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