Undergirding post-9/11 neoconservatism was the assumption that the money for a quasi-imperial foreign policy would always be there, and that, if necessary, domestic spending could always be slashed—and perhaps even taxes raised—to make sure the Pentagon was spared the ax. But that assumption no longer holds. Forced to choose between health-care spending and military spending, as they increasingly must do, most Democrats will choose the former. And forced to choose between military spending and tax hikes, Republicans in this Tea Party era will throw the Pentagon under the bus as well.
President Obama (with an assist from Grover Norquist) has successfully changed the narrative in post-9/11 America, from one where we worry about being blown up by a jihadist, to one where we worry that we won't have adequate health-care coverage in an increasingly volatile economy.
While it's true that there has never been a shortage of attempts by some faction to create, define, and attack some iteration of "the enemy," whether it be communists, or Muslims, or immigrants, or liberals, I think that people are generally tiring of being at war. I think even evangelicals are beginning to see that some among them who wage spiritual warfare are a bit over the top with defining who the enemy is. That's why Bachmann, and possibly Perry, will not be nominated or elected.
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