Posted on 03/17/2016 10:05:10 AM PDT by Kaslin
For years, conservatives have told themselves the pretty bedtime story that they represent a silent majority in America -- that most Americans want smaller government, individual rights and personal responsibility. We've suggested that if only we nominated precisely the right guy who says the right words -- some illegally grown Ronald Reagan clone, perhaps -- we'd win.
Donald Trump's impending nomination puts all of that to bed.
There can be no doubt: The Republican Party has successful killed the legacy of Ronald Reagan. By consistently moving to the left in every presidential election, by granting the left its general premise that government is generally a tool for good rather than a risky potential instrument of tyranny and by teaching Americans that the problem isn't government itself, but who runs it, Republicans have ensured that the vast majority of Americans no longer hold to conservative principles.
In fact, a significant swath of Republicans themselves don't believe in conservative principles. Trump, obviously, is no conservative. He's a protectionist on trade -- a position that smacks of populist pandering rather than informed conservative economics. He believes in an authoritarian executive branch designed to make deals that achieve a win for Americans, rather than a heavily circumscribed executive branch with prescribed powers of enforcement. He believes that judges sign bills, that legislators exist merely to bargain with the great man in charge and that the military exists to serve as his personal armed forces.
All of this attracts people.
The angrier Trump gets, the more he talks about how he's going to set things right rather than giving Americans the power to do so themselves, and the more Americans flock to him.
So, let's look at the facts. Today, at low ebb, Trump garners approximately 4 in 10 Republican voters. Let's assume that at least half of those Americans aren't conservative -- a fair guess, given that many have admitted bias in polls in favor of government interventionism in the economy, a sneaking love for government entitlement programs and a strong position against immigration -- not for safety reasons, but to prevent economic competition. Meanwhile, more than 4 in 10 Americans support Democrats outright.
This means that at least 6 in 10 Americans support a big government vision of the world.
Which means conservatives have failed.
In order to rebuild, conservatives must recognize that they think individually; leftists think institutionally. While the left took over the universities -- now bastions of pantywaist fascism hell-bent on destroying free speech -- the right slept. While the left took over the public education system wholesale, the right fled to private schools and homeschooling. While the left utilized popular culture as a weapon, conservatives supposedly withdrew and turned off their televisions.
Withdrawal, it turns out, wasn't the best option.
Fighting back on all fronts is. Republicans need to worry less about the next election and significantly more about building a movement of informed Americans who actually understand American values. That movement must start with outreach to parents, and it must extend to the takeover of local institutions or defunding of government institutions outright. The left has bred a generation of Americans who do not recognize the American ideals of the Founding Fathers. Pretending otherwise means flailing uselessly as demagogues like Trump become faux-conservative standard-bearers.
Isn’t this the same guy who lied about Corey Lewandowski?
So many of these "young guns" are stuck in their teen years, and haven't fully reached adulthood.
Thanks!
Shapiro is another dumb ass that can’t seem to realize that if we don’t bring to an immediate halt the destruction wreaked on this country by the Worst President In American History and his miserable party, THERE WILL BE NO COUNTRY LEFT TO REBUILD CONSERVATISM IN. GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL SHAPIRO!
Get behind Trump, defeat Hillary, close the borders, and BRING OUR ******* JOBS, SOLDIERS, AND CAPITAL BACK FROM OVERSEAS!
With Trump, it means victory in November.
With Cruz it means likely defeat.
Does this d-bag Shapiro actually expect people to take him seriously anymore?? Esp. with an anti-Trump article??
Underlying theme to this little twerps story: Trump supports are dumb and need to be more informed. FUBS.
Bush, ‘First I’ll finish the border’ Kasich and Christie ALL stated, repeatedly, that they are conservatives.
They are all liars.
The essence of Conservatism is Nationalism, which has long ceased to be part of “Conservatism.”
Exactly.
If we lose this election to those who want amnesty, and open borders, without an 180 degree change in our immigration policy and other policies, the demographic changes in the voting base will effectively drown out any useful effect from the writer's proposals.
Does the writer believe that the mistakes made, which led to the destruction of Rome could have been reversed by simply trying to reason with the invading Barbarians?
To understand why Trump is a natural Conservative, see:
Oh boy, Shapiro. No way Jose am I going to read his screed.
“Which means conservatives have failed.”
I would add that we’ve been bludgeoned to death as well by Trump’s successful blitzkrieg of anger and ridicule. The crony capitalist dream of protectionism in trade has replaced any desire to massively reduce government by bureaucracy and regulations and a reduction in corporate taxes to allow competition both domestically and in trade. We have succumbed to the “get things done now” lie of authoritarian leadership.
Jim, what exactly is the nation that we are saving?
His idea of conservatism is a non-seller.
He has no concept of what Obama and the GOPe (in conjunction) has done to the middleclass and so cannot understand that an appeal to "conservatives" is pointless now. They stand for nothing!
He may as well go completely incognito and start writing for National Review.
I am of the opinion that the GOP has re-organized or consentrated into 3 large camps:
Conservatives with about 20% of the base and is growing.
GOPe who have been in power but are now declining, also about 20%.
The “dissatisfied” movement who are republicans who are basically pissed off at the Dems AND THE GOP. They dont like the GOPe because of perceived failure to live up to promises. This is composed of a diverse mix of everything that is not in the prior two camps. Trump has successfully read this dissatisfaction and is giving this group a candidate to support.
All three represent about 80% of the party in total. The remaining 20 percent is smaller groups of everything from libertarians to social conservatives, and single issue voters.
The GOPe for a long time has been in power and they dont like the idea of loosing that power to an outsider / upstart. That is why they have been fighting so hard against conservatives and the Tea Party.
Most conservatives that I have talked to do not like Trump because there are several positions that he has taken that do not align with the conservative agenda. However, because he is not the GOPe candidate, he tends to be someone they can hold their nose for and support in the General election.
So my reading of the tea leaves looks like this.
- If Trump wins the nomination, the conservatives will reluctantly support. Their enthusiasm will depend on how Cruz is treated after the nomination. If Cruz is in the VP, Attorney General or slotted for the SCOTUS, there will be much conservative support. The GOPe, will tend to split. Some will hold their nose, others not so much. Trump’s populism may be enough to bring Independent voters to the polls by a large enough margin to make up for the lack of GOPe support.
- If Cruz wins the nomination, the dissatisfied voters can support him but the enthusiasm may not be there. The GOP will fight against a Cruz nomination. He MIGHT also win the General IF Trump acknowledges and supports him. Tough to win if your party is opposing you.
- If anyone OTHER than Trump or Cruz wins the GOP nomination, the GOPe will support that candidate BUT FEW, IF ANYONE ELSE WILL. There will not be a “hold your nose” and support the nominee. IOW, the GOP gets shellacked in the general. I can even see a Trump/Cruz independent ticket that significantly beats the GOP but might not win the General
Utter nonsense. Those with money fled to private schools, you can't just lay that on "the right."
The teachers in our school district are used to working with parents, because we stay very involved with our children. When I find out a teacher is spewing BS, I go have a talk with them. I keep it friendly, i.e. "I heard you are teaching the class in this manner..."
My youngest son (14) is now my only child in school, and he knows I will back him if he challenges his teacher. It happens rarely, but we keep it civil and respectful. I also talk with a brother-in-law who teaches at the same school, and I've nudged him away from the "dark side"...lol.
Last year, I was over at his house, and we watched Part I of Atlas Shrugged. I was there to explain the subtext to the story. He enjoyed it so much, he pulled ASII off Netflix. He gets it.
Look the GOPe use conservatism as a campaign message. Its not their values. They like to attack the front runners as not being perfect enough. Then they get their least perfect candidate in there. Notice how he is asking us to sacrifice the front runner for the sake of educating people. Really!!!
They have done that in the last several campaigns that is how we ended up with Dole, Bush, McCain, and Romney. While they like to pit us against the less than perfect front runner, their real goal is to slide in a very far from perfect elite candidate.
What we need is a winner. And we have only had one GOPe winner in the past 4 presidencies, and that was because we thought he was a conservative, he ran as one and then spent our way into a vast hole. We have the house and the senate, with the presidency we have a chance. That’s why the democrats are going crazy. Trump is getting more votes cast for him than any other candidate on either side of the aisle.
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