There is an old saying; don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Obviously if one puts all of his eggs in one basket and that basket is dropped then all of the eggs could be lost. This is something we as conservatives ought to remember as we now have our hands on the wheel of the ship of state.
A few days ago Brian Kirwin correctly pointed out that if the Republican Party drops the ball on the economy then they can get thrown out just as quickly as the Democrats did. Unfortunately, some have taken that line of thinking to the extreme and have suggested that we focus only on fiscal issues. This would be unwise for several reasons:
1) Political risk: There is no guarantee that fiscal issues will be on the front burner in 2012. It would be wise for conservatives to have a range of accomplishments in various fields including fiscal, social, and national security.
2) Ignoring Connection of Issues: One factor that is all too often overlooked in politics is the connection that issues have with one another. For instance, it is unlikely that we will ever eliminate the welfare state with the current trajectory of the institution of marriage (i.e. more divorce, breakdown of the family unit).
A recent Rasmussen poll showed that voters still blame former President Bush for the current state of the economy more than they blame President Obama. Yet the President’s party still suffered significant losses in the House and Senate, not to mention in the various states. While there is general consensus that the President has not turned the tide of the economic mess, I do not believe that this was the only factor in the 2010 midterms.
The American people certainly had the economy at the forefront of their minds, but this election was not about one specific issue or even one set of issues. Rather it was a whole host of issues interconnecting with one another. The American people dug deeper and questioned more than just how much President Obama got done; they questioned his ideology and philosophy of government.
The TEA Party certainly contributed to this. I am personally gratified to hear people talking about Constitutional issues that ordinarily never entered the public discourse.
However, most TEA Party members appear to understand that fiscal issues are interconnected with other fields of policy. A national suvey of voters conducted on November 2 found that Reducing Spending and Restoring Moral Values were roughly equal priorities among TEA Party members. I think it is safe to say that a majority of Americans would like to see us do both of those things.
It does not make sense for us to compartmentalize the issues. Instead we should present a well rounded philosophy of government that is rooted in our beliefs concerning the role of government, fiscal responsibility, and respect for the laws of nature and nature’s God.
