The Marriage Between Conservatives and Republicans is Over
During the past 6 years conservative and Republican have been used as interchangeable words. No more. The Republicans have abused the fact that conservatives have no one else to vote for as an excuse to abandon conservatism. They can no longer hide behind the specter of “8 years of Bill Clinton.” If Republicans wants our votes, they need to prove they’ll govern as conservatives, not as big government spendaholics.
Conservatives, for their part, can no longer take for granted the conservative credentials of someone just because there is an “(R)” after their name. If candidates and elected officeholders don’t deliver, then they need to be thrown out of office. If conservative voters will tolerate Republicans who support conservative policies 5% of the time, that is exactly what they’ll get.
The last election cycle shows that in at least some areas, Democrats can be impressed upon to be more conservative. The campaigns of Casey Jr., Ellsworth, Webb, and others, show that Democrats that are closer to the center are more likely to win. This shows, that if we keep the pressure up, we can move the political center of gravity to the right. Few people truly believe in a government-run life anymore.
We need to stop being a supporter of a party (or the opponent of a party) and start being the champions of ideas. We must demand that those who wish to have our vote are also champions of ideas. Those who can do nothing but spout attack ads must continue to be rejected. It’s not enough to be against Hillary, they must be “for something.”
Where possible, voters should seize the political initiative and put conservative referenda questions on the ballot. Even with a pathetic showing of the GOP this last season, conservatism won with referenda. This is where the future is, pushing policies around politicians. Where this is not possible, voters need to push for binding referenda.
Today marks the rebirth of the conservative movement. For too long it has been little more than Republican boosterism and this has fallen flat. It’s time to re-enter the battle of ideas where we have always had the upper-hand.
Ellsworth, Donnelly, Hill, and Webb yes, but Casey? He didn’t run a campaign. He said hardly anything, and made Santorum go on the offensive.
And he still won’t say anything about how he stands on issues.
Comment by rightwingprof | November 24, 2006
I certainly hope that actual issues are debated. Period. I’m so tired of the politics of “we aren’t like him/her” or “we’re not going to tell you why, but we’re better than them!” We’ll see what happens from here.
Comment by Dustin | November 25, 2006
How frequently Squeaker of the Mouse Pelosi paints herself into a corner with the so-called “Blue Dog Dems” will paint a truer picture of how much the country is moving away from the left come the 2008 elections.
The 2006 election fiasco was, indeed, a wake-up call for true conservatives to take back teh Republican Party.
Comment by TrekMedic251 | November 26, 2006
Maybe Reagan was an anomaly. If so, we need more such anomalies.
Conservatism is a hard sell, because it offers no freebies. So the candidates have to be unusually appealing, warm, and articulate.
Comment by bird dog | November 26, 2006
Who gets the fondue set in the divorce?
Comment by QueenV | November 27, 2006
[...] lesson in France is that whenever conservatism is on the ballot (unhindered by corruption, bad implementation of policies, or personal problems) conservatism wins. Today France joins the world in adopting more sane economic and governmental [...]
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[...] lesson in France is that whenever conservatism is on the ballot (unhindered by corruption, bad implementation of policies, or personal problems) conservatism wins. Today France joins the world in adopting more sane economic and governmental [...]
Pingback by Stop The ACLU » Blog Archive » France Becomes Respectable Again | May 6, 2007