Since then, George W. Bush has adopted that term. Now Lamar Alexander and Dan Quayle have attacked this terminology in an intraparty squabble which is purely political, revolving around their rivalry for the presidential nomination. Alexander's attack on this position is fatuous nonsense.
Compassion is, after all, a central value of the Judeo-Christian ethic.
The effectiveness of the conservative message is diminished substantially when it is characterized as mean, hard-nosed, or intolerant. In order to argue that our methodology is better than the liberals', we must first establish that our compassion is as genuine as the liberals'. Then we can argue and demonstrate that liberal compassion implemented through a powerful centralized bureaucracy is, in fact, demeaning to the recipients. It makes the compassionate one feel good at the expense of the recipient. In our opinion, it is not enough to possess that admirable human motive of compassion.