Actually, I’ve been watching political discussion among younger Americans lately. They’re forming opinions based on the labels, and debating for example, which one Republicans or Democrats stand for individual rights. Distorting the language is always misleading.
Whose fault is it if young people don’t know what we stand for? Is it the fault of us using the term Conservative or the fault of us not defining who we are in public, and then sticking to that definition when we govern.
IMO George Bush has done more damage to who we are as Conservatives than Bill Clinton ever did.
Did he reduce the size of government? Did he help dismantle the nanny state? Did he refrain from new big-government programs. Did he adhere to his oath of office as it applies to Article 4 Section 4.
We’re going to have a very hard time keeping a straight face when we go to potential voters and try to tell them we are the party of smaller goverment and more individual rights. This is the fault of our own man, not the term we use to define us.
It’s no wonder those kids have no idea who we are. Remind me the last time a Republican candidate stood up and defined what we seek to be. Frankly, I can’t remember one residential candidate over the last fifteen years that was brave enough to talk like Thompson and Hunter.
One thing this election is going to do. It’s going to advance the cause of Conservatism. It will do so, because for the first time in a heck of a long time, since 1984 really, a candidate at the top tier will be talking about what a true Conservative is.
I don’t care of we are defined by nut and bolt. As long as the public knows what a nut stands for and a bolt stands for, they’ll understand who has their best interests at heart.
Political terms often don’t adhere to the common definitions. That’s also true of terms used in a number of professions.