Conservatives, temperamentally respectful of the past, uncertain about the present, and doubtful of the future, are often inclined to embrace the notion that their age is one of decadence. We at The Weekly Standard have tended to resist this temptation. While we might admire works like Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence, while we might enjoy an occasional dip into the more apocalyptic waters of Oswald Spengler’s Decline of the West, while we might quote a few lines from the great and mordant Philip Larkin, we’re perhaps too American to turn our backs on the future.

But even we would have to acknowledge that this election season has challenged our usual optimism. Presidents matter, and it’s no small thing that the two major-party candidates present the American people with the worst choice since their forefathers had to choose between James Buchanan and John C. Frémont 160 years ago (and this may be unfair to Frémont). If Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump is progress, we could do with less of it.