Let’s take a look at why conservatives keep losing. First, a quote:
The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
That was President Abraham Lincoln in December 1862 in his annual message to congress during the American Civil War. That brutal and bloody conflict would continue until April 1865.
With the risk of being too sarcastic or negative, what would too many conservative elected officials running for reelection or too many conservative writers or researchers or activists working for one of the hundreds of conservative organizations and websites say today? Maybe this:
The occasion is piled high with difficulty. We’re not reaching our fundraising goals. We must lean on our donors and tell them what good work we are doing! Surely if we make the appeal just right, we will really save the country this time — that is, after saving ourselves.
Those who follow politics realize what we’re up against — here are just a few examples of where leftists work 24/7/365 to fundamentally transform our country by influencing public opinion:
- The dominant media.
- K-college education.
- Popular culture from movies to late night TV shows.
- Government unions.
- Big social media tech companies.
- Corporations that foolishly push leftism.
- An army of “progressive” non-profits and PACs and other advocacy groups that probably have more troops than the U.S. military.
- Leftist donors who are quite serious about moving the public opinion dial in the wrong direction.
- Government bureaucracy/deep state players…
…and the list goes on.
Conservatives also have countless organizations that exist just to spread conservatism. If these groups were reaching enough people, the Democrats would not have taken the U.S. House last year, and next year’s presidential election would be a done deal — President Trump would get four more years.
But these groups are not reaching enough people.
With the Russian “collusion” hoax now behind us nationally, leftists have rolled out its successor — a Ukrainian collusion hoax. The dominant media lies so blatantly now it has never been clearer that real journalism is rare. Most dominant media outlets act more like the publicity offices for the Democratic Party and leftists everywhere.
Most people rightfully don’t trust most polling data. Unfortunately, too many Americans (especially elected Republicans and conservatives) are still influenced by polls. As the Democrats launched the Ukrainian collusion hoax that was designed to then launch a presidential impeachment effort, National Review reported that there was a surge of support for impeachment.
You may have heard how popular socialism is today among young people. How is that possible after decades of work by hundreds of conservative organizations?
The problem doesn’t exist for a lack of talent on our side. Conservatives excel in research, policy proposals, commentary, journalism, and even humor. What’s missing is the vision and plan for how to increase the reach so this talent can win more support for conservative policies.
Obviously, my premise is that once more Americans hear the conservative message and its proposed policy solutions, they’ll vote for conservatives. Many people, however, fear that many government programs will be negatively impacted by conservative policies.
The counter argument to that is all those programs will work far better and the need for things like welfare will decrease. President Trump’s economy has already proven that – millions more no longer need welfare because they have a job (and their standard of living is improving as a result).
Conservatives cling to a fantasy that if they create enough organizations and websites, voters will get the message. You know, the “build it and he will come” thing. But they don’t come.
Up next: Answering more questions.
From the Dispatches archive six years ago today: People are Not Being Reached. Really, They’re Not.
