Right Needs Expansion, Not Dismemberment

American Spectator ^ | Matthew Sheffield

[RatherBiased.com]

Political losses are interesting to watch. Generally speaking, the left and the right handle them differently.

Too often, the tendency of the right is to talk about how certain groups are holding the rest down. Primarily the debate is between those who favor social conservatism and those who favor economic conservatism. Each group insists that its approach is the correct one to get back to a ruling majority vote.

There certainly are quite a few larger problems facing the conservative movement. Right now, particularly among Hispanic, black, and Asian voters, the conservative side has a number of trends that do not favor it. The electorate remained, as it has been historically, more Democratic than Republican.

Fundamentally, however, fingerpointing is not the correct approach. For that, conservatives would do well to learn from their rivals on the left. Liberals handle political losses quite differently. Generally speaking, left-wingers focus on what they did wrong and how to fix it rather than try to cast off who is to blame. Aside from some quibbling between the hardcore communists and the New Democrat types, you simply do not see people calling for expulsion of Hispanics, chastening of gays, or repudiation of government unions. This communitarian approach has been a core part of how leftists have operated for centuries. The old French leftist phrase "pas d'ennemi à gauche," no enemies on the left, has been something they live by to this day.

[SatinDoll]

I initially waited for Palin, but then supported Newt Gingrich passionately once it became apparent she was not going to dive into the race.

Later, I found out from someone close to her family that they had been threatened.