(Yeah, let’s export the American version of Fascism.  That’s a really good idea.  Let’s make the whole world as miserable as we are.)

This year's Conservative Political Action Conference proved so popular that it had to be moved from its usual venue in Arlington, Va., to the RonaldReaganBuilding in the heart of Washington. More than 4,000 people turned up this month to listen to Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich, to buy Ann Coulter dolls and to swap personal anecdotes about the evils of liberalism.

The conservative movement is in its glory. A recent poll shows Republicans favoring George W. Bush over George Washington 62 percent to 28 percent. Conservatives are in control of the executive and legislative branches and, for all intents and purposes, hold sway over the judicial branch and talk about a permanent hegemony.

In just 50 years, they have built up a mighty movement, with outposts in every state and a dominant set of ideas. Americans can now spend their entire lives surrounded by conservative ideas…

A few of the smarter U.S. conservatives are trying to build a conservative counter-establishment. Devon Cross runs what might be called a neoconservative outreach program in London. The Heritage Foundation plays host to about 500 Europeans a year. The Stockholm Network, which brings together 100 or so (often state-funded) right-of-center think tanks from across Europe, has lured a few White House officials, such as Bush aide Tim Goeglein, across the Atlantic to visit them.

As Bush searches vainly for kindred spirits in Brussels, he could usefully reflect that, 50 years ago, American conservatism was in much the same impoverished state back in Washington.

If the right wants to become a global force, it will take the same formula that has brought it success at home: ideas, time and cash. Come to think of it, Kristol's Encounter magazine is not a bad model for Bush. From the right's point of view at least, the CIA could find worse uses for its money.

John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, writers for the Economist, are the co-authors of "The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America" (Penguin Press, 2004).

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