From the Desk of an Eternal Optimist: An Open Letter to Conservatives
By E M Barner | Saturday, February 7th, 2009 | PoliticsDear Fellow Conservative:
Election Day 2008 produced a liberal governing majority that no one envisioned even as little as two years ago. The Democrats control both chambers of Congress as well as the Presidency. And while they are motivated by politics rather than solutions, Americans perceive them as the true agents of change and reform.
Buried within election data is troubling news. The Republican Party is losing grassroots support, and conservatives are peeling away from the party. According to exit polls, one-in-five self-identified conservatives voted for Barack Obama, clearly illustrating the Republican Party’s inability to project conservative values with credibility.
And this reality has been manifested into a set of greater truths: Americans in 2009 believe that Republicans are tied to the status quo, cannot be trusted on the issues that matter most to them, and are incoherent when articulating a positive vision for the future.
But in light of this, I believe Republicans, by firmly embracing conservative solutions-based traditions, can rise again and set the best course for America. From the desk of an eternal optimist, better days are ahead.
Before coming to Congress, I helped transform the Republican Party in the State of Georgia from permanent minority party status to a governing, conservative, principled and solutions-based majority. Now, it is some of the most fertile ground for conservatives in the nation. This happened in Georgia because of a commitment to what is at the core of leadership: to lead with principle! Yet right now, conservatives are correct about a Washington in which too few are fighting consistently for their values and concerns.
The Republican Party is at its best when its leadership has a bold vision and is rooted to conservative principles: personal responsibility, liberty, limited government, traditional values, providing for the common defense, and optimism about the future. But Republicans seem to have lost the ability to intelligently or ideologically define these principles and convey them to the American people.
Moreover, elected conservative leaders need to act immediately in order to facilitate the rebuilding of the Republican Party and reconnect it to the conservative movement.
• Back to basics: The first step starts with a little bit of self-reflection and “re-learning” the core principles of conservatism. Only through understanding the past can our core principles be applied and developed into meaningful solutions to tackle the challenges facing America.
• Party of Solutions: A new Republican platform of ideas and language must be created and championed, built on a foundation of conservative solutions. It will also need to be built from the ground up from fresh and innovative ideas.
• Rebuild the party’s infrastructure and coalitions: There must be a specific focus on nurturing the grassroots, shoring up ties with existing coalitions and leading thinkers, and creating new infrastructure to meet the challenges of politicking in a new century.
• Hold Democrats accountable: This begins with a proactive and coordinated strategy between elected conservative leaders and outside allies. Americans need to be reminded on a daily basis that Democrats want to play politics and centralize power, raise taxes, cut defense spending, and undermine traditional values.
• Go on offense, engage and educate: Yes, Virginia, someone in Washington is fighting for you. And when Republicans stay on offense and engage, then it garners attention and provides opportunities to educate every American on conservative solutions that work. Look no further than the Energy Revolt on the floor of the House of Representatives this past August which gave Republicans a needed voice and identity.
• Remain unified and disciplined: Hostile Democrat majorities and liberal special interests are more energized than they have been in decades. Without unity and discipline, the differences between the two parties become blurred, and conservatives have every right to question allegiance to Republicans.
• Reclaim the American lexicon: Democrats have been successful in altering the mindset of what made this nation great through language and institutions. Once, Americans valued “responsibility,” “self-determination,” and “hard work.” Now, these ideals have been replaced by fuzzy appeals to “diversity,” “fairness,” and “social justice.” No longer can Republicans cede the language or institutions.
• Broaden the appeal: Republicans win elections when they run on an across-the-board conservative solutions-based agenda. However, the appeal must be broadened to acknowledge and embrace the demographics in our country. Failure to do so will relegate the party to permanent minority status.
My letter ends with a direct appeal to you. With continued optimism and clarity of purpose, action can be taken to rebuild the Republican Party, reconnect it to its conservative roots and provide the solutions to tackle the challenges facing America. Last week’s principled and unified opposition to a big-government spending spree that would mortgage our nation’s future and prolong economic strife was just the beginning.
Please join me and set us on the course for a better tomorrow.
Yours truly,
Tom Price, M.D.
Congressman Tom Price represents Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District serves as Chairman of the Republican Study Committee h/t: townhall.com
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About the author
E M Barner, the blogger formerly known as DCH / De Civitate Hominis (“concerning the city of man”), writes from a Northern Virginia perspective. Barner has been active in Republican politics and policy since 1994 – as a grassroots volunteer, party leader, and professional.
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17 Responses to "From the Desk of an Eternal Optimist: An Open Letter to Conservatives"
Love to see conservatives come back, but unfortunately we are currently overpowered by the $ only RINO mindset. (the so-called fiscal conservatives). You see it in Olympia Snow, Arlen Specter and the likes of Brian, just look at all the liberal and democrat blogs that have signed up with Bearing Drift and its ill -timed petition designed to split conservatives between traditional conservatives and your RINO variety.
You are part of the problem and should be embarrassed.
We conservatives who believe in liberty and traditional values will do fine. Either you RINO’s will drive us from the party or we will get the party refocused on the basics like we did under Reagan. It would be nice to see you left wing republicans have to hold your nose and vote for conservatives just like we had to hold ours and vote for the RINO’s.
Reagan raised taxes. He doubled the gas tax to build highways.
In Virginia, you’d call him a RINO.
Brian:
Just go all the way and become a Democrat. You are 90% there already.
Dry, what’s the matter? Don’t like the truth? When facts fail you, you resort to attacking me? Good job!
I “attack” you because you liberal RINO’s are precisely the problem with the party today. You dislike traditional conservatives and ridicule leaders like Sarah Palin, but the truth is: a republican party that moves left away from traditional values based Americans doesn’t win. We tried it again last November. Moving left with you “northern Republicans” who are fiscal only types produces failure at the polls. We don’t need a Democrat lite party.
Why do you spend your energy attacking us conservatives? That doesn’t build a successful party. Try what I do, attack liberals like you.
I had no idea that supporting Lee and Jackson was a defining issue on whether one was a Republican.
I guess the Kenney brothers, Scott White, Jim Riley, and Doug Mataconis – who also support this petition, are not conservative? Shaun’s gonna love that.
More to the point, there are great ideas in this letter. The real question, are there people out there who will take the ideas in this letter and twist them to attacking other conservatives who may disagree with them on one or two issues, vice the true opponent who disagrees with them nearly all the time?
I think Price said it best in his last point:
It is clear, Dry Viking, that you do not intend to heed that advice.
I do absolutely. That is precisely why I am troubled by this blog’s attempt to divide conservatives that you don’t agree with by starting a battle over issues that no one really cares about except a very few. Why start the fight and alienate people like me and others who are the base of the party. It is not just LJ Day, it is the entire effort to drive a wedge between traditional values based conservatives and the libertarian “only $ matters” types. We need both and should try to build that coalition again not divide it. By following our opponent’s advice to us, ie. move left, we play into their hands as that has NEVER WORKED. Liberals love to see us move left but they will not vote for us. period.
They only time we got large numbers of independents to come our way was not when we moved left, but when we moved right and asked them to join us.
So, I recommend that you quit attacking conservatives, quit trying to bring up controversial petitions in Virginia that will only succeed in alienating the core Virginians we need. Quit telling us the moral issues don’t matter and are controversial and focus only on the $ issues. The moral/social issues are the most important and always have been for the majority of us who call ourselves conservatives.
If you are successful with what you are trying to do, you will have more Democrats on your side at this blog, a weakened Republican party in Virginia and perhaps a stronger yet still inconsequential Constitution Party. What good will that do us? It only helps the Democrats. To echo Rush: I hope you fail.
Excellent plan but its not working too well so far.
As long as we have people like Eric Cantor “leading the party”
The dude needs to go. Any idiot can say no. Snow and Specter actually get it. Instead of saying no they are fighting to eliminate waste and put in more tax cuts. Now that is called actually leading instead of whining.
Read the polls we don’t have the majority and we are in real danger of losing an entire generation. There are two choices keep saying no and shrinking or actually govern
Take a look at Pat Herrity. I know he lost but the guy gets it. To win we need more people like that. People who have ideas and plans and vision. If the plans fail thats ok. The american people can see we are trying and that there are alternatives out there besides just saying no to everything.
Dry, President Reagan doubled the gas tax to fund highways. Was he a RINO?
Our party has improved it’s image over the past week due to the fact that it stands on principle. The American people are by and large a conservative bunch.
If we are honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge that cultural conservatism has been ignored by many of the conservative talkers. I like the Republican Pirate flag that has popped up on several of the conservative sites here in Virginia, however the references on it are totally economical. We make a mistake if we believe that we can achieve economic freedom without cultural morality.
Analysis of the election results shows that the biggest voter fall off came from the most pro-life districts, and if we are to make inroads into the minority communities then we must be as passionate about preserving morality as we are about preserving the free market.
Steven, I agree with every word.
No, I call you a RINO.
Brian:
This isn’t about Reagan other than his legacy of building a coalition. As a traditional conservative I disagreed with several things Reagan did, (like failing to show at the annual March for Life and only talking to them on the telephone). But I am talking about now.
Apparently you haven’t noticed but the liberals have been trying hard to divide the conservative opposition. They have been trying to drive a wedge between traditional values based conservatives and the libertarian fiscal conservatives. (Not that traditional moral conservatives aren’t fiscal conservatives too, we are, but we aren’t libertarian when it comes to morality). So that is where they try to drive the wedge.
The recent attacks on Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are examples. You and the focus of this blog have been to move down here to Virginia and instead of reinforcing the Reagan coalition, you have opted to attack conservatives rather than liberals. That is no way to build a party but is exactly what the Democrats want, hence all their support for your prominently displayed LJ petition.
Look, LJ is not the issue. But to come down to Virginia and make a big deal of that and it plays right into the Democrat’s hands.
Northerners and Southerners of good will have always respected the South. Hence those northerners chose to name so many of our Army forts for famous Confederates: Ft. Lee, Ft. AP Hill, Ft. Gordon, Ft. Bragg, Ft. Benning, Ft. Hood et al.
Don’t pick a fight with the South in the South. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape, don’t spit into the wind. Most people in the country don’t care.
Instead: Focus on building the conservative coalition.
I can work with you, even though I have to live with your liberal positions on values, but your interest in fiscal responsibility dove tails with mine. You may need to learn to work with values/ moral conservatives because we are the base. Loose the base and you loose. Without Sarah Palin, McCain would have barely pulled 25%.
Conservatives need to work together. Focus on the things that unite us rather than divide us. That is what Reagan did.
You and LT. JR should too.
Dry, you brought up Reagan in your very first comment. If a Republican publicly campaigned to double gas taxes for highways, I bet you a gazillion dollars you’d call him a RINO.
Meanwhile, we’d all enjoy your idiocy in responses like this:
“You and the focus of this blog have been to move down here to Virginia”
Look, lamebrain, I didn’t move here because of the blog. I’ve lived in this state for over half my life.
I respect the South’s past. I just don’t insist on living in it.
Values and moral conservatives. Interesting you should use those terms.
What values do I disagree with you on?
Is it life? Is it respect for the constitution? Is it hard work for a just compensation?
What values, other than wanting to see more of Virginia’s rich heritage celebrated, do you disagree with me on, DV?
Just curious.
Also, would you rather Virginia not grow economicially and in political power by folks from other states moving here? Is there some sort of litmus test that said they are able to speak, but not on issues that you disagree with them on?
For the record, and I think if you search this blog for “Palin” that the record is pretty damn clear, I supported the vice presidential nominee every chance I could.
Limbaugh on the other hand, I love him as an entertainer and he says most things that are spot on. He says others, occasionally, which he will have to defend himself on.
I am sorry to say this but the Republican party is the cause of 70% of our current deficit. AND now we are yelling at the Dems? Lets get our act together and start acting like Republicans!!!!!
When Reagan took over we were the biggest creditor nation in the world and when he left we were the biggest debtor.. . NOT CONSERVATIVE
Bush bailed out everyone NOT CONSERVATIVE
WAKE UP
Aaron,
I think we’re witnessing a turn around in the GOP.
A good first step is recognizing that the Dems are saddling us with more debt. Additionally, congressional Republicans have been offering fiscally sound amendments to the stimulus bill, only to get voted down by the Democrats.
I would presume by these actions that the current GOP has learned its lesson…at least I hope so.
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