An advertisement for the fine publication Human Events recently invited people to join the conservative “underground,” and to “Join the Conservative Counter-Revolution.” It was an entertaining ad as ads go. It referred to the “surging opposition to President Obama’s plans to ‘remake’ America.”
After many frustrating years of Republican failure culminating in the elections of 2006 and 2008, clearly more people today are realizing citizenship isn’t something that can be delegated. That’s very good news for supporters of limited government and traditional values, and very bad news for weak and useless Republican politicians.
Back to the ad, which noted a few facts:
- Obama’s dropping poll numbers.
- TEA Party protests and other expressions of public outrage are spreading.
- Fox News Channel and conservative talk radio ratings are becoming even more popular.
- The bestseller lists feature several conservative books.
Sure, it’s an advertisement, but that’s a good list. It is clear more people are waking up to Obama’s baloney, the corruption of most of the big media, and the disastrous condition of many of our major government programs. This energy can be viewed as the third step.
The first step to genuine reform was an annoyed country pitching out Republicans from control of the U.S. Congress who didn’t stand by their principles. The second step was the country not trusting Republicans any longer with the White House.
What we now need is to enter the fourth step. I might be making a bit too much about an advertisement selling a conservative publication – but my point is simple. Yes, we need to make sure we get and stay informed. There are countless ways to do this in the age of cable news, talk radio, the Internet, and many fine publications.
But that’s only the start. If conservative voters are actually going to accomplish something – they need to participate in electoral politics – party politics – in greater numbers than ever before.
It’s been a hobby for several decades now for right-learning people to avoid constructive grassroots party politics. Instead they’ve made an art of starting up organizations that do nothing and hold endless meetings that few people attend. Once in a while a celebrity is brought into town and the crowd gets bigger. After those events everybody goes home and nothing changes.
If what the Democrats are doing is to be stopped – and reversed – we’re going to need candidates to run against them. That will require political armies to get those better candidates elected.
The work isn’t even done after that. Then there has to be a sustained effort to move public opinion in support of the reform policies. As we know from the James “Pate” Philip/Jim Edgar years in Illinois – and the Dennis Hastert/George W. Bush years in Washington – holding power isn’t enough. That power has to be used to advance platform-based solutions.
That action will require more than just an informed conservative movement. It’s going to require candidate recruitment, fundraising, and innovative and successful campaigns before and after election day. It’s going to require a Republican Renaissance.
You say you hate the Republican Party and will never join it or support it? What’s your option? A fantasy third party effort? Staying stuck in protest mode? Ever more education for the choir without any political evangelism? That’s the path to more of the same.
My colleagues and I do not play cheerleader for the old, dumb, useless and corrupt Republican Party. We’re seeking to build a party that actually attracts honest, competent professionals who want to advance the principles found in the state and national party platforms.
Go ahead and subscribe to Human Events if you want, but don’t go underground. Join what I call the Counter-Insurgency. We need you.
