My conservative convictions go back to high school when Ronald Reagan was elected Governor of California in 1966, to my subsequent regular reading of “National Review,” and weekly viewing of William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line.” I voted for Reagan in the 1976 primary against Pres. Ford; voted for Reagan again in 1980; briefly supported Phil Crane in 1984 when I thought Reagan wasn’t “conservative enough;” voted for Bob Dole in the 1988 primary over George H.W. Bush because I didn’t believe that simply being Vice President earned one the nomination; voted for Pat Buchanan in the primary in 1992; voted for Steve Forbes in 1996, even though he’d already pulled out of the race. I believe my conservative credentials stand up to anyone’s. I enthusiastically supported George W. Bush in 2000; and I enthusiastically support him again this year. There are good reasons for conservatives to support Pres. Bush in 2004.
History has shown that if a President achieves one or two major objectives, history will recognize him as an effective and possibly a great President. Ronald Reagan had two major accomplishments: he reduced taxes which stimulated the longest period of economic growth in America’s history, and he won the Cold War against the Soviet Union. For these accomplishments, Reagan has earned the legacy as a great President.
George W. Bush is building a legacy based upon five key issues, all of which should be supported by conservatives.
1) His prosecution of the war on terror. The hallmark of the left is that they believe America is essentially at fault for the attacks of 9/11. Whenever something bad happens in the world or here at home, the left blames the US. It’s a reflexive reaction – “Blame America first!” (And they wonder why we question their patriotism.) Look at the leftists in Congress, the media, and in the general public. It would have been easy for this nation to roll over after 9/11 into a fetal position and question ourselves in a stupor of self-doubt and guilt. The fact we didn't is due solely to George W. Bush. I respect this man above all others on the political scene for his leadership and courage immediately after and subsequent to 9/11/01. Pres. Bush called the war on terror a war against the “evildoers.” “Evil” is not a word in the liberal’s vocabulary. Pres. Bush has shown courage, determination, and moral clarity – all conservative values – in pursuing the terrorists.
2) His defense of American sovereignty. Whenever we hear John F-in’ Kerry complaining that President Bush has pursued a foreign policy of “arrogance” and non-cooperation with our “allies,” this is code for “He didn’t ask France’s permission.” Pres. Bush said during his State of the Union address that America will not ask permission from the international community to protect America’s security. He has faced-down the appeasers in the UN in a way that no one, not even Ronald Reagan, was able to do. He told the UN that it needed to enforce its own resolutions, or “become irrelevant,” and if the UN refused to back-up it’s own resolutions, the US would do it on our own. He has been unafraid to go-it-alone when the vital interests of the United States were at stake, but fortunately he has not needed to, putting together a diverse coalition to topple Saddam and rebuild Iraq, encouraging the emergence of a “New Europe,” based on nations which were formally under the heel of Soviet oppression – nations, unlike the tired and morally ambivalent society of France, that know oppression and which are now strong defenders of freedom.
3) His promotion of freedom and democracy as the cornerstone of US foreign policy. As President Bush said in his speech to the National Endowment for Democracy this past November, “The progress of liberty is a powerful trend. Yet, we also know that liberty, if not defended, can be lost. The success of freedom is not determined by some dialectic of history. By definition, the success of freedom rests upon the choices and the courage of free peoples, and upon their willingness to sacrifice…” And as he said at Whitehall Palace in London a week later, “The deepest beliefs of our nations set the direction of our foreign policy. We value our own civil rights, so we stand for the human rights of others. We affirm the God-given dignity of every person, so we are moved to action by poverty and oppression and famine and disease. The United States and Great Britain share a mission in the world beyond the balance of power or the simple pursuit of interest. We seek the advance of freedom and the peace that freedom brings.” His elevation of freedom and democracy as the guiding principles of our foreign policy was a radical break with the utilitarian policy of the past 50 years where we compromised those principles in the interest of counter-balancing Soviet communism worldwide. This part of the “Bush Doctrine” is decidedly conservative.
4) His promotion of quality nominees to the federal judiciary who respect the original intent of the Constitution. For me, the most important issue we face (outside of winning the war on terror) is to reform the federal judiciary by packing...yes, PACKING!...it with judges who respect the rule of law, and the U.S. Constitution. So far, every indication I've seen from George W. Bush's nominees to the federal courts is that they have been 100% stellar in their conservative judicial philosophies. This factor alone is reason enough for bedrock conservatives to support the re-election of George W. Bush.
5) His effort to bring faith back into the mainstream of American society (the most important cultural issue, IMO). All conservatives understand that we are in a “culture war” with the left, and that this war has been going on for some time – for the better part of a generation. But it isn’t so much a culture war as it is a spiritual war – and, frankly, I believe that the wider spiritual war going on in our society has allied some on both the left and the right against the influence of faith in God in our society. To wage spiritual warfare requires using the weapons of faith – the recognition that there is a power above and outside of ourselves to whom we all owe allegiance. President Bush is probably the most sincere and public believer in God we’ve had in the White House. We live in dark days, and simple ideology will not get us through them. The light of honest and real faith in God, bringing God back as a foundational value of our society, will, more than any political philosophy, dispel the darkness. This is an important aspect of what President Bush brings to the Presidency. And it, along with the other items I’ve listed, are all solidly conservative in value, and demand that real conservatives support President Bush for re-election.
I am going to direct people to this thread, and I am bookmarking it for reference in the months ahead. As President Bush says, "Good job!"
I'm not thinking of anyone in particular mind you. ;^)
I liked Buchanan back in 1996 when he made American sovereignty a top priority. Now that Bush has done more for protecting American sovereignty than any president in recent history, Buchanan trashes Bush every chance he gets. I have lost all respect for Buchanan.
I would disagree with your statement - “Evil” is not a word in the liberal’s vocabulary.
Leftists are pretty proficient at "calling evil good, and good evil".
RE:#5) His effort to bring faith back into the mainstream of American society (the most important cultural issue, IMO).
Right on target, and well said.
BTTP
I'd like to know how you know this. I don't get to read the news so much these days, but I know the names Owens, Brown, Estrada, and Pickering. I know what the Federalist Society is, but I am not sure besides Estrada who else is a member. But I don't know very much at all about their philosophies, or how they might rule on key issues, or what cases they would be willing to overturn, etc. Do you? Where is that information?