This is one reason I am not particularly dejected at the outcome of this election. The country is no more liberal today than it was 8 years ago. To my mind, this is 1976 all over again.
In ‘76, the Republicans had lost their way ... corruption and distinctly non-conservative activity plagued the party. They had a two-term unpopular President (Nixon); a lackluster “moderate” Presidential candidate (Ford) that defeated a far more conservative counterpart in the primary (Reagan) and was directly tied to the unpopular administration (pardons). The Democrats ran a soft spoken leftist that used his Christian morality to blind the electorate ... and they won.
In ‘76, the Republicans, not conservatism, were repudiated.
In 2008, the Republicans lost their way — corruption and distinctly non-conservative activity plague the party. We have a two-term unpopular President that failed to live up to conservative promises. We had a lackluster “moderate” Presidential candidate that beat far more conservative rivals in the Primary (Thompson, Romney), and could be closely tied to the unpopular Administration. The Democrats nominated a mild-mannered, well-spoken leftist that was able to blind the electorate with soaring oratory ... and they won.
The Republicans, not conservatism, have been repudiated in 2008.
But — in both 1976, and 2008, the electorate is still fundamentally conservative. To quote Ronald Reagan in a speech after the disastrous loss in 1976 ...
“Now, it is possible we have been persuasive to a greater degree than we had ever realized. Few, if any, Democratic party candidates in the last election ran as liberals. Listening to them I had the eerie feeling we were hearing reruns of Goldwater speeches. I even thought I heard a few of my own. Bureaucracy was assailed and fiscal responsibility hailed.”
I believe the Republicans lost partially because the Democrats co-opted conservative rhetoric (”tax cuts” for the middle class, renewed victory in Afghanistan, etc), and the Republicans’ proved they could not be trusted to follow through on their conservative rhetoric. We allowed the lines to be blurred.
But, I believe we can utilize this loss as the Republicans did in 1976. We can renew conservatism. Like Reagan did with the “Reagan Democrats”, we can win converts we thought were completely unreachable with a conservative message. This will partially be done when Democrats reveal their true colors.
We lost in 1976, and the media announced that conservatism had been officially repudiated ... and that the short-lived conservative movement was dead. They were wrong then — and they’re wrong now.
H
To my mind, this is 1976 all over again.
Let us remember that this is 2008 and the approach need to be different. Sometimes , we have to be proactive. Like democrats, in 2006 elections, we need to plan for 2010 and take one democrat at a time. We need more registrations and lot of ground work. Radio’s and fox news will help us but, we have to go beyond that and play in the turf of democrats.