An American Conservative Party?
Gary Loftis
January 24, 2008
Perhaps it is time for a new political party in the United States.
There was a time when the Democrat and Republican parties represented the two ends of the political spectrum. Democrat candidates advocated government solutions to voters´ problems, whatever the cost; their Republican counterparts promoted self-determinism, limited government, and fiscal accountability. Democrat dogma embodied the tenets of modern liberalism/collectivism. Republicans believed in the limited federalism embodied in a strict reading of the Constitution.
American voters managed to find a middle ground by electing a mix of Republicans and Democrats. Sometimes it worked, like in the late 1990s, when a Republican Congress and a Democrat President found a way to fund government and balance the budget. Other times, like the last 5 years, it hasn´t worked. Republicans learned to spend like Democrats and a Democrat Congress, elected in 2006, forsook governing in the name of discrediting a president. It is as though the Republicans don´t know how to govern and the Democrats only want to govern on their own terms … as though the Republicans have decided they must move to the left to retain their popularity and the Democrats have determined to make it clear that only they can govern from the left. In the end, conservative voters have become disenfranchised.
Now we face another election, but this time there is no legitimate conservative left in competition for the Presidency from the GOP. Mayor Giuliani looked like a conservative when he took over the most liberal city in the United States, but his lifestyle and social philosophies provide little comfort to evangelicals and social conservatives.
Governor Romney also looked relatively like a Conservative when he assumed the leadership of a state known euphemistically as "Taxachusetts," but his views and rhetoric have changed so radically and so often as to raise serious questions about what his governing philosophy would be. Other questions about his business dealings with off-shore companies, which are sure to become a factor in the general election, could put into question his credibility.
Senator McCain´s record hardly reassures conservative voters. His participation in "the Group of Fourteen" assured that the Bush administration would be unable to get large-scale conservative judicial appointments confirmed. The McCain-Feingold law "reformed" campaign financing in such a way that billionaire George Soros and his cohorts now constitute a major media force in national elections. The Lieberman-McCain Act, if passed, would cripple our economy and adopt man-made global warming theory as national policy.
Governor Huckabee is a moderate with no real commitment to conservative principles. He advocates the Fair Tax, but he knows the chances of passing it are slim and none. He is liberal-leaning on social policy, as demonstrated by his record of felony pardons and advocacy of rewarding illegal alien students with taxpayer-subsidized, in-state college tuition. His plan to send millions of illegal aliens home in 120 days would likely be portrayed in the international media as yet another demonstration of American arrogance.
Congressman Paul is not a conservative, but a libertarian. While some of his platform appeals to conservatives, there is little possibility that he could convince Congress or coerce the vast federal bureaucracy to relinquish their power.
Who, then, are conservatives to support? Rush Limbaugh suggests that many conservative voters will just stay home from the polls. That would be one course of action, but what would that accomplish? The default Republican candidate would claim a mandate of Republican voters, and conservatives would have no voice. There is a way to make your conservative voice heard.
There were, until recently, two legitimate conservative Republican candidates: Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. If conservatives were to write in one or the other´s name on their primary ballots, the result would be a tangible demonstration of conservative numbers in the electorate and their dissatisfaction with the candidates being put forth.
Conventional wisdom holds that 30% of the electorate are dedicated liberals, 30% are dedicated conservatives, and the remaining 40% are undecided, presumably splitting between the two parties. It would be statistically impossible for Republican candidates to win without conservatives´ support, so why provide that support without concessions? If conservatives were to make their presence known during this primary season, it would create leverage on the ultimate candidate to consider conservative principles in the ensuing campaign and on Republican leadership to consider how many voters they are alienating when they govern like Democrats.
Conservative voters can continue to hold their noses and vote for the lesser of the available evils or take a stand and write in "Fred Thompson" or "Duncan Hunter" on their primary ballots. If we make our presence known in significant numbers and the Republican party continues to turn a deaf ear, 25-30% of the American electorate is not a bad place to start the American Conservative Party!
Copyright 2008, Gary Loftis. All Rights Reserved.
There was a time when the Democrat and Republican parties represented the two ends of the political spectrum. Democrat candidates advocated government solutions to voters´ problems, whatever the cost; their Republican counterparts promoted self-determinism, limited government, and fiscal accountability. Democrat dogma embodied the tenets of modern liberalism/collectivism. Republicans believed in the limited federalism embodied in a strict reading of the Constitution.
American voters managed to find a middle ground by electing a mix of Republicans and Democrats. Sometimes it worked, like in the late 1990s, when a Republican Congress and a Democrat President found a way to fund government and balance the budget. Other times, like the last 5 years, it hasn´t worked. Republicans learned to spend like Democrats and a Democrat Congress, elected in 2006, forsook governing in the name of discrediting a president. It is as though the Republicans don´t know how to govern and the Democrats only want to govern on their own terms … as though the Republicans have decided they must move to the left to retain their popularity and the Democrats have determined to make it clear that only they can govern from the left. In the end, conservative voters have become disenfranchised.
Now we face another election, but this time there is no legitimate conservative left in competition for the Presidency from the GOP. Mayor Giuliani looked like a conservative when he took over the most liberal city in the United States, but his lifestyle and social philosophies provide little comfort to evangelicals and social conservatives.
Governor Romney also looked relatively like a Conservative when he assumed the leadership of a state known euphemistically as "Taxachusetts," but his views and rhetoric have changed so radically and so often as to raise serious questions about what his governing philosophy would be. Other questions about his business dealings with off-shore companies, which are sure to become a factor in the general election, could put into question his credibility.
Senator McCain´s record hardly reassures conservative voters. His participation in "the Group of Fourteen" assured that the Bush administration would be unable to get large-scale conservative judicial appointments confirmed. The McCain-Feingold law "reformed" campaign financing in such a way that billionaire George Soros and his cohorts now constitute a major media force in national elections. The Lieberman-McCain Act, if passed, would cripple our economy and adopt man-made global warming theory as national policy.
Governor Huckabee is a moderate with no real commitment to conservative principles. He advocates the Fair Tax, but he knows the chances of passing it are slim and none. He is liberal-leaning on social policy, as demonstrated by his record of felony pardons and advocacy of rewarding illegal alien students with taxpayer-subsidized, in-state college tuition. His plan to send millions of illegal aliens home in 120 days would likely be portrayed in the international media as yet another demonstration of American arrogance.
Congressman Paul is not a conservative, but a libertarian. While some of his platform appeals to conservatives, there is little possibility that he could convince Congress or coerce the vast federal bureaucracy to relinquish their power.
Who, then, are conservatives to support? Rush Limbaugh suggests that many conservative voters will just stay home from the polls. That would be one course of action, but what would that accomplish? The default Republican candidate would claim a mandate of Republican voters, and conservatives would have no voice. There is a way to make your conservative voice heard.
There were, until recently, two legitimate conservative Republican candidates: Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. If conservatives were to write in one or the other´s name on their primary ballots, the result would be a tangible demonstration of conservative numbers in the electorate and their dissatisfaction with the candidates being put forth.
Conventional wisdom holds that 30% of the electorate are dedicated liberals, 30% are dedicated conservatives, and the remaining 40% are undecided, presumably splitting between the two parties. It would be statistically impossible for Republican candidates to win without conservatives´ support, so why provide that support without concessions? If conservatives were to make their presence known during this primary season, it would create leverage on the ultimate candidate to consider conservative principles in the ensuing campaign and on Republican leadership to consider how many voters they are alienating when they govern like Democrats.
Conservative voters can continue to hold their noses and vote for the lesser of the available evils or take a stand and write in "Fred Thompson" or "Duncan Hunter" on their primary ballots. If we make our presence known in significant numbers and the Republican party continues to turn a deaf ear, 25-30% of the American electorate is not a bad place to start the American Conservative Party!
Copyright 2008, Gary Loftis. All Rights Reserved.
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