In a Yale University address on Thursday, commentator and
columnist George Will called for American conservatives to return to the federalist ideals at the core of the ideology. In his speech, Will called out pundit Ann Coulter as an “enemy” to the pursuit of conservatism's intellectual brand, according to the
Yale Daily News.
This isn't the first time Will has expressed his apparent dislike for Coulter, who is defined by her firebrand style of conservatism that can be controversial.
In a segment on ABC News' "This Week" in 2007, Will is heard reacting to show host George Stephanopoulos' mention of Coulter by saying, "less said about (her) the better."
However, the substance of Will's address to the 150 or so Yale students, which was sponsored by The William F. Buckley, Jr. Program at Yale, was not on Coulter's impact on modern American conservatism, but rather was a re-examination of the current political divide that exists in the United States.
According to Will, "American politics today is very much a continuation of the argument that the founders had," between whether "government exists with limited powers to secure our rights" or whether it should be a massive entity with the power “to metastasize and intervene in every facet of life.”
Will continued, "When you hear it said that government is dysfunctional, the system that Madison designed is working . . . The American system is designed to make people wait until concurrent majorities [exist] because we want a government safe in securing our rights."
The audience, which was apparently comprised mostly of conservative students, gave Will a warm welcome, according to the Yale Daily News.
"He is an example of what most conservatives at Yale are striving for," said Yale Sophomore Carolyn Hansen, a Buckley Program fellow.
The sentiment was shared by fellow undergrad Konrad Coutinho, who told the school paper that he appreciated Will's take, adding that such arguments are generally not widely held on campus.
A Pulitzer Prize-winner, Will acknowledged the left's dominance in academia and the media, but said he is hopeful that conservatism would win out in the end due to the lack of fiscal sustainability of certain government entitlement programs.
Will's biweekly Washington Post columns are syndicated in approximately 400 publications nation-wide.
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