We went out to dinner last night with our friend Duke Buckner and his wife. Duke is the man who had the courage to take on Jim Clyburn. I want to talk about Duke and others who have thrown their hats into the ring because they show a courage and commitment to their values and to the Founders’ vision that I wish more conservatives would emulate. That courage is made greater by the fact that there are enormous systemic barriers in place against citizen candidates and, especially, against conservatives.

Sadly, Duke lost, and it sure wasn’t for want of trying. It seems that Clyburn, by having PACs at his back, had greater influence than Duke, who garnered a much smaller war chest from individual donors. In other words: money. Still, Duke made an excellent showing, and we hope he gives it another try in a couple of years.

We picked a neighborhood restaurant for our dinner and discovered, to our great surprise, that the owner is a stalwart conservative, as is the chef. Not only that, quite coincidentally, this was the same night that a large group of other Low Country Charleston political candidates who had for local and state offices showed up for dinner. Since we all knew each other, it turned into a delightful and collegial event.

Image by Andrea Widburg.

Some of the candidates at the restaurant had won the seats for which they ran, and some, like Duke, hadn’t. However, they all had something in common: Courage.

It takes an enormous amount of courage to stand up in front of the world, announce your values, and ask your fellow citizens to vote for you. It takes courage to cold call rich people and beg for money. It takes courage to go door-to-door, stand in parking lots, or speak at public forums, never knowing whether you will be met with warmth or hostility. It takes courage to turn over your life to the fatigue of campaigning, even as you continue to work your regular job and care for your family. And it takes courage to recognize that there’s a good chance that the day of the election or, if you’re in California, the month after the election, you’ll walk away with the bitter taste of defeat in your mouth.

Most people are unwilling to put themselves out there that way, and that’s very sad. Our American system works best when ordinary people—the ones who raise their families, go to their jobs, run their companies, and pay their bills—become the people’s representatives, whether in state houses or Congress.

Our Founders envisioned a nation of citizen politicians. They would have been utterly dismayed by the system we have now, one that sees a permanent political class made up of elites who receive endless funds from special interest groups and, therefore, have little to no contact with ordinary American concerns.

And when I say special interest groups, I’m talking about organizations that pour massive amounts of money into politics:

Reagan’s tax reforms may have contributed to these organizations’ growth, but we know that they’ve also become a way for politicians to launder campaign donations. The way it works is that politicians give taxpayer money to the NGOs, and the NGOs give the money and their bases’ votes right back to the politicians.

This works the same way that the politician/government union dance works. There’s a reason that teachers’ unions are always huge Democrat donors. Democrat politicians get teachers taxpayer-funded raises (too often undeserved), and the teachers’ unions funnel that money right back to the Democrat politicians.

Because of what amounts to money laundering, whether from the left or right, the incumbent will have the NGO advantage. This means the citizen candidate needs extraordinary courage to take on an incumbent.

In addition to the money problem, conservatives have an extra hurdle that Democrat candidates don’t. This is the fact that the media shun them. Duke had to threaten one news outlet that refused to give him equal access to airtime. Local newspapers are also invariably leftist and will ignore conservative politicians, dig up dirt on them while not making that effort for Democrat candidates, or otherwise treat them shabbily and with insults.

So, here’s to all of the conservative candidates in the last election, whether they won or lost. They’re the people who carry on our Founders’ vision, and we need to remember to support them whenever we can.