Thanks for the kind words. I expanded upon my post and have posted it earlier this afternoon on NR’s website. In just a couple of hours I have got a lot of great feedback, so since I pretty much posted it here first, I thought I’d share a slightly refined version of it. I hope you enjoy it and thanks! Keep the faith!
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National Review means well, but they mean well in the same way a retarded cousin means well. Their latest grandstand “Against Trump” play misreads the political landscape.
Most conservatives don’t have a problem with conservative philosophy and genuinely believe in it. Conservatives by nature tend to be more process oriented (develop good, fair processes and you will get good, fair, and predictable results). Liberals by nature tend to be more goal oriented (arrive at a good goal and no matter how you get to it, you will end up getting good results).
This is not a knock on either approach, nor saying each side doesn’t have some of both of these elements, but I am just stating it as a general principle.
Conservatives are finally frustrated with the process, especially as they see a steady stream of tremendous liberal victories which they instinctively know we will all have to live with for anywhere from 25 to 50 years or more.
There’s the realization that the liberals have triumphed on major policy and cultural fronts. Obama is indeed the transformative president he promised he would be.
The process has failed conservatives. There’s a perception that sticking to the rules doesn’t get us positive results, especially when the other side is bending the rules and using every trick in the book to run circles around our elected leaders and their media advocates (outfits like NR).
They win, we lose, and our side has a dozen excuses but they can’t break free of their process oriented mentality.
So they keep losing, and still promise their voters they will accomplish great things, but still keep losing when it comes to the process.
The GOP candidates and their friendly media outlets demonstrate that they are remarkably obtuse when it comes to appreciating what is going on.
So we get the usual variations on “Trump isn’t a principled conservative.” These would be a showstopper just a few years ago (when their voters were more process oriented), but in 2016, the voters are alienated and the people making this argument seem genuinely befuddled. “Why isn’t this working? Why aren’t they listening to us?”
The problem isn’t that the Republican voters aren’t conservative anymore. They simply don’t believe in the agents of conservatism they have entrusted with power.
They’re now finally rejecting them as weak and ineffective, not to mention obnoxious and increasingly nasty to their own voters.
This is true for their feelings towards conservative media outlets too, like NR.
Republican voters have moved away from being process oriented and are becoming goal oriented. They’re not “moving away,” they have “moved away.”
Appeals to sound, principled process are falling flat, since the voters have seen with their own eyes that liberals triumph without much regard to sound, sensible process, and that their Republican elected officials are so inept at the process that they can’t mount a successful defense against the liberal lines of attack.
Conservatives didn’t stop believing in conservative philosophy. They have just stopped believing in their candidates and their media outlets. They’ve come to the completely rational conclusion that liberals are probably going to win in 2016 anyway, and if somehow a Republican did manage to win, odds are he or she would be so weak, inept, and ineffective that the liberals will probably continue to advance their agenda, anyway.
So now, the only goal oriented candidate is winning. It’s not a shock if you have been paying attention and have clarity.
I’ve called Trump the expected equal and opposite reaction to Obama. I’ve noted to both liberals and conservatives I know that he even swiped Obama’s 2008 campaign playbook (big media personality, well attended & enthusiastic rallies, a broad slogan that allows anyone to project whatever he wants to it and go home happy, new media savvy tactics, etc.), but my friends get nervous when I point this out and few commentators on TV (left or right) seem to be able to make this observation. Or is it that they can’t cope with it?
Republican voters have no faith in the Republican party. It doesn’t help the GOP’s cause that they didn’t show this level of nastiness and passion against Obama and the Democrats. It doesn’t help that when Dubya was president, with a GOP congress, they didn’t deliver much on anything their voters wanted and nothing that has endured.
And their voters told them this. Over and over. They just didn’t listen. Process oriented. The process was too difficult, they just didn’t want to go through it. Talk a nice game, then back to business.
Meanwhile when liberals have political power and set goals, they succeed.
The voters have noted this The Republicans have lost a lot of credibility. I see no reason to have any faith in any of them. They’re following the usual script and don’t seem to understand that the audience has seen this movie before and we don’t like the way it ends.
News Flash to GOP Inc: The voters aren’t rejecting conservative philosophy. They’re just rejecting you.
I’ve been a conservative since my teens, through college and law school, and into my professional life. I’ve been a Republican since 18 (1986). I’ve been a fan of NR for decades. And all that being said, I think we’ve completely lost but if you pick up an issue of NR (or like minded journal), or speak with your Republican Congressman, they will be quick to tell you that we’re just one election away from turning this around. It won’t be easy, but once we win, we’ll roll up our sleeves and get it done. You’ll see. We’ll really deliver, this time. Stick to the plan. It got us this far, right?
It’s time to try something else. Sticking to the old game plan is complete nonsense and may be a form of insanity. Like the smart lady said, “what difference, at this point, does it make?”
As for me, with no other credible reasonable choice, I choose to say #MakeAmericaGreatAgain
Post this on a separate thread!
Great post!
bkmk