Conservatism 2.0
Much has been written in the wake of the electoral defeat Nov. 4th about the future of the GOP and the conservative movement and why we lost. We lost because Obama ran a much better campaign and was a more attractive candidate than McCain. We did not lose because the country has shifted to the left, the Democrats that took Republican seats ran as conservatives and Obama himself shifted way to the right in the general election.
Lots of the "conservative" intelligentsia are attempting to place blame on this or that wing of the Republican party and they need to STOP IT right now. Social cons, fiscal cons, and security cons need to get out of the circular firing squad formation and work together once again to rebuild the Reagan coalition that put us in power in the first place. I have a strong libertarian streak that believes government should stay the hell out of our lives as much as possible and that includes morality issues that are best left to the Church not the legislature or the courts. The government is rightly responsible for fiscal and security policies that do affect all of us and is clearly defined in the Constitution.
Glenn Reynolds and Michelle Malkin have a very interesting discussion on PajamasTV about this conservatism 2.0 and it shows that libertarians like Glenn and conservatives like Michelle still agree on far more issues than they disagree. Like Glenn I don't care if gays have civil contracts, if people smoke pot or if abortion remains legal as long as the Constitution is adhered to on the freedoms it does set down, the freedoms of the press, religion, speech, and the right to bear guns etc..
We as conservatives of course need to stand for the values of the Christian right but we also need to move beyond just that to appeal to those that are turned off by the morality chest thumpers. I am a conservative Christian and I am turned off by the likes of the Mike Huckabee types that only focus on the moral issues that really have no place in politics. Governance is not about morality, it is about fiscal and security issues first and foremost. I forget who said it but a government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take it all away. I stand against that armed and ready.
4 comments:
I stopped reading political commentary a few weeks ago, but could not resist reading yours. Succinctly stated (as usual), and oh-so-very-on-the-mark. As a former Dem, I have been furious with the approximately 10 million conservatives who failed to vote and, in my mind, thereby threw the election to Obama. If I, and 2.5 million other former Dems, could see the Obama handwriting on the wall and toss in our collective lots with McCain, how is it that squabbling Republicans could not do the same? Well, I guess I answered my own question - because they were too busy squabbling, to the point of no compromise.
You said it best: "Governance is not about morality, it is about fiscal and security issues first and foremost." I don't care whether gays marry or not. I care very much about the Democrats' plan to nationalize my 401(K). I care very much about the threat of another devastating attack upon these United States.
Not only did all of us lose the battle this election around, but we lost the war as well.
I am somewhat amazed at myself for agreeing with your take on some of the morality issues and government. Fiscal... not so much. My father the banker would have found the last eight years of money management downright "socialist."
Thanks, Goat. Well done as usual.
I believe it was Reagan who said that, Goat, and he's right!
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