You know, since Reagan, we’ve played the media’s game by nominating the most RINO-moderate in the race...
Maybe we shouldn’t play their game anymore.
Nominate the conservative with the most conservative credentials, say, even a white, Christian male, and then let him go on the warpath against leftist/progressive/liberals in the media and democrat party who are destroying this country. Take them HEAD ON. Don’t allow them to set the question but show them how their gotcha questions themselves are biased.
We need a “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Breen!” moment.
Above should be, Since AFTER Reagan!
(Meaning George HW Bush, Dole, George W Bush, McCain, Romney....)
Realistically speaking, they’re never going to nominate the “most conservative,” particularly when even conservatives can’t agree on who it is. Every time when somebody emerges who seems like a possibility, somebody will pop up in the “conservative” world and say, “well, you know, he’s not a REAL conservative because of xyz,” and then everybody else takes up the chant, half the time without even verifying the facts. This is true even though the “not a real conservative” meme just basically indicates that the candidate has disagreed on some issue with the self-appointed arbiter of conservatism. But the loudest, most aggressive voices always get the attention, and I think we’ve let ourselves be gypped out of several elections by somebody who comes along at the last moment and screams that such and such a candidate, who was previously doing well, “isn’t a real conservative.”
I think what we want is a combination of conservative values (and I mean social values as well) and a confident leadership personality - not a shrill dictatorial personality, but something that inspires trust - and a track record that gives some evidence of competency. Reagan had all that even though in retrospect not all of his positions could be described as conservative; but at that time, we were still more interested in character and the overall presentation of the candidate.
If I had to say there’s one thing that I would look for overall in the candidate’s positions, however, I’d say it’s “small government” and undoing the powers that the federal government has usurped from the states. Undo this vast, intrusive government that has been growing over the years and has been on steroids since Obama came into office, and give us back our freedom. Freedom to send our kids to the school of our choice and not to be forced to accept the government curriculum, freedom to open businesses and run them in accordance with our consciences, freedom to choose our own doctors - all of the simple things we once had.
But so far, I haven’t heard a single candidate address this issue as being primary (although Walker has touched on it in the context of state’s rights).