Conservatism Losing Steam?

Lisa, local columnist and blogger from Bluftooni makes the point:

Posted on Thu, Apr 17, 2008
Conservatism is losing its steam
By LISA MOSSIE, Commentary

Last week, the news broke that for the first time ever, Montgomery County has “turned blue,” meaning that registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by almost 10,000.

And Montgomery County is not alone.

Just this past weekend, formerly Republican Bucks County also went over to the dark side.

Folks who have been paying attention know that Republicans have been losing ground for years.
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But the party leadership — local, state and nationwide — has been slow to recognize this trend or do anything to turn the tide.

Even now, I believe many people are simply attributing the surge in Democrats to vote switching for the primaries or the fact that the Republican primary is essentially meaningless. They are happily skipping down the primrose path believing that Republican registration will bounce back in the fall. This is foolishness.

Repeat after me: The tenants of conservatism are — smaller government, less taxes, fiscal responsibility, respect for law and order and promoting moral behavior.

Part of the problem is that conservatism and the Republican Party have gone separate ways.

Regular visitors to this space know that this column has, on many occasions, staunchly supported the Bush foreign policy, including the war.

This column has stopped short in endorsing domestic policy. “Compassionate conservatism” has been a dismal failure.

It could never be compassionate enough for liberals and it could never be conservative enough for conservatives. It was a policy that spent huge amounts of political capital in futile attempts to cross the aisle and resulted only in scorn from the left, bitterness from the right and a huge expansion of government for the country to support.

Many conservatives at the grassroots level worked long and hard to see a Republican majority put in place in Congress. Then, after all that work, the people got corruption, out-of-control spending and fiscal irresponsibility.

In fairness, it’s easier to lose your way in public office as a Republican than a Democrat.

For one thing, scandals don’t matter to Democrats. Question a Democrat’s character and you’ll be told, “It’s a private matter” or “It has nothing to do with how he governs.”

Conservatives hold the (perhaps, antiquated) notion that a moral compass matters because it’s easy to do the right thing when everyone is looking and it’s what you do when no one is looking that determines character.

And too many Republicans have thought no one was looking.

Secondly, having a budget at one’s disposal is a powerful thing, and adding a little pork to a bill is something “everyone” does.

However, when Republicans do it, it’s to “curry favor with the voters.” When Democrats do it, it’s “to help the little guy.” And all voters see are the tax bills.

But perhaps the biggest factor in the turning tide from Red to Blue is that conservatism has lost whatever appeal it once had.

It’s easy to blame the mainstream media for their part in selling liberalism, but the conservative message has been sullied by the elected folks who’ve betrayed us once in office.

Party leadership at every level has been largely unsuccessful in fielding optimum candidates.

And, finally, conservatives at the grassroots have been ineffective in getting out their message.

Conservatives believe in rugged individualism, liberals in collectivism.

Conservatives believe work should be rewarded according to effort, liberals believe in the leveling the playing field. Conservatives think government involvement only serves to slow the wheels of progress; liberals believe that progress can only be achieved through government.

And perhaps at a more subtle level, liberals have the “cool” factor going for them. Democrats can trot out the Hollywood elite, rock stars and hipster candidates. They’ve got the appeal for the people whose identity is wrapped around being in with the “in” crowd.

Conservatism dictates that you alone are responsible for your destiny; liberalism says it’s not your fault if you fail, and we’re here to help you.

Liberalism is more compassionate. It’s nicer and it’s easier. That’s why it’s become more popular.

But there’s a huge downside to liberalism that conservatives need to get better at articulating.

Liberals are like the parents who continue to bail their adult children out of bind after bind.

Conservatives are more of the tough-love school. They are willing to let their children fail, knowing that the lesson will be better learned if the child can get out of it on his own.

The conservative parents’ goal is independence for their children.

Liberal parents keep their children dependent because that’s how they retain power over them.

Because independence is what this country was founded on, perhaps we need to take another look at why this is such a hard message to sell.

Contact Lisa Mossie at LisaMossie@yahoo.com and visit her blog at http://bluftooni.blogspot.com.