PrintJune 15, 2009
Conservatism as Political Pragmatism
According to Gallup, "conservatives" are the single largest ideological group. The poll was based on how people described themselves, given the choices of very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, very liberal and no opinion.
Forty percent of those polled described themselves as conservative or very conservative, almost twice as many as the 21% who described themselves as liberal or very liberal. Self-described "moderates" were 35% of those polled. (Four percent gave "no opinion" as an answer.) That 40% "conservative" figure is even higher than it was when Republicans took over the House of Representatives in 1994, for the first time in 40 years.
Dear Republican Party:
Here is how you do it: get 40% of the vote by being genuinely conservative, without apology. Then go after one third of the "moderates" (thus getting another 12% of the vote, for a 52% majority) by pushing responsibility, competence and integrity. Heck, maybe you'll get half the moderates, for a total of 58%, almost what Reagan got in 1984.
That is, simply be the party of honest, competent and conservative government. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?
It worked for Reagan. It worked for the Gingrich Congress. It could work for you again. Try it.
