Democrats build coalitions. Republicans go it alone.
I've previously recommended a strategy for turning the political tide that involves getting involved locally. These battles will not be won from the top down. We must build our case from the bottom, converting people one at a time. It is often said that the battle is too big, and the left will overpower us. In a way, that's true. The left is too big because conservatives fight alone.
Numbers are important. The more of us who band together to help, the more power we will have to turn this tide. We should build the numbers the Democrat way, by building coalitions, but time may be short.
Democrats are professionals at taking groups of people, including political enemies, and bringing them together into coalitions to create overwhelming numbers. It is how they eke out a majority. Conservatives and Republicans do not generally do that. Each interest group fights its battles alone. We need to take this page from the Democrats and form coalitions. We have subgroups within conservatism with great talent and enthusiasm, but we never coordinate responses.
Look at how the Democrats do this. When there is a political battle, they help each other out, adding numbers to create an appearance of strength. If the issue changes, the rhetoric changes, but the same people are fighting the battles. All that will change is the group taking the lead.
In the current battle over CRT in local schools, the point of the spear is the Democrat school board. Immediately, the teacher's union steps up to assist. Racial equity groups add their strength. Academia, the source of the ideas, defends the "scholarship." The press and social media provide information assistance. It's sold as "everyone agrees," and the parents are the outliers with the strange ideas. Democrats usually pull this off.
It's always the same. Progressives identify a "problem" that can be fixed using progressive ideas from a progressive organization. Defund the Police, CRT, $15 minimum wage, Green New Deal, Universal Basic Income, and the For the People Act are all examples. In every case, the small groups band together to present a massive front.
Conservatives just want to be left alone, and they do not easily create coalitions. However, if we are going to leave our comfort zone and become a militant opposition, we need to combine groups into a coordinated opposition with massive numbers. We need to find and build on the threads of agreement among the various interest groups. "Leave us alone" is not going to work.
The connections among groups like pro-life groups, the NRA, free-market capitalists, and other conservative groups may not be obvious. It's not based on specific issues but is, instead, philosophical. The conservative connection is individual liberty. It is the lifeblood of conservatism. Progressives are against individual liberty, and each of the primary issues on which they fight is meant to give power to government at the expense of individual liberty.
Progressives are keenly aware of the interconnections between the various issues. They use those connections to build the powerful coalitions that are difficult to resist. They battle with a combined front. When conservatives attempt to defend liberty in specific instances, they are often surrounded by an overwhelming army of coordinated opposition, giving an appearance of irresistible power.
Conservatives already have a communication network in conservative media including radio, podcasts, cable, and websites like this one. We fail to use this power to build conservative coalitions that can defeat the left.
The information is out there. We know that parents are battling the school systems over CRT and COVID restrictions. We know that conservative legislators in several states are fighting to put election reforms in place. We know that hundreds of people are held without bail for minor crimes on January 6. We know, but we fail to provide coordinated help. We sit back, cheer them on, and watch them fight alone with the hope that they will be victorious. It is rugged individualism transferred to groups. We fight only when our particular ox is being gored, and this will lead to our eventual defeat.
Conservative organizations need to look at these battles and look for opportunities to join and help. If we do not build coalitions, they will defeat us by sheer strength of numbers. When conservatives see fellow conservatives in battle, we should offer help and not just cheer from the sidelines. We cannot fight the left's coordinated effort alone. Working together, we outnumber them.
This is a difficult request. We are busy people with jobs and responsibilities, but we are at a point at which getting involved is no longer optional. If we are going to successfully resist the leftist onslaught, we need to do this quickly, and we need to move out of our comfort zone and help fight these battles. We fight locally, and we fight together as one. We can be victorious.
Image: Join, or Die by Benjamin Franklin. Public domain.
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