The
election results were good for the Republican Party. Cleansing and
catharsis foster deep thought about the future and provide the first
steps toward renewal and health. Whether you are Republican, Democrat,
or independent, you must accept that the permanent destruction and
defeat of one party is not a sustainable model for national vitality.
Even thinking Liberals find appeal in Conservative arguments about
getting government off our backs. The future health of the Republican
Party is a necessary condition for the future health of our country.
In The Wall Street Journal on November 5, “Conservatism Isn’t Finished”, Thomas Frank, a Liberal, wrote,
“The conservative movement, after
all, came to Washington under a banner of ‘reform’ but promptly turned
Congress over to lobbyists and opened countless regulatory agencies to
the industries they regulated. The movement clamored for fiscal
responsibility and proceeded to outsource, at vast expense, every
government operation it could. It boasted of its business savvy but
just couldn’t see the housing bubble bursting. It looked to the
Northern Mariana Islands as a beacon of human freedom. It insisted that
Tom DeLay was a man of integrity.”
This, obviously, cannot stand.
I believe the Republican Party must turn again to its Conservative
roots. Not neo-Conservatism, not compassionate Conservatism, not this
or that Conservatism, but pure Conservatism in the tradition of Barry
Goldwater and William F. Buckley, Jr. Conservatism founded on firm
principles is inherently compassionate because, above all, individual
rights and freedoms are standards by which all policy is judged.
Conservatism, with an intellectual structure, is founded on:
- Individual rights over state’s rights, and state’s rights over Federal rights;
- Free enterprise;
- Respect for the Constitution as the ultimate guidepost for the protection of individual rights.
Each of these has policy implications:
- Smaller government. Our national debt is now larger than the GDP
of all but 12 countries. We cannot saddle our children and
grandchildren with such burdens.
- Re-engineering the tax code to encourage enterprise and business
creation by catalyzing capital formation. The ultimate tax proposal in
this regard was designed by Milton Freidman in 1960: the flat tax.
- Resisting the attempt to modify the Constitution de facto by aggressive legislation.
- Continued pursuit of free trade, as long it is fair trade.
- A monetary system that measures and lubricates real production; i.e., reining in that “fourth branch” of government, the Federal Reserve.
- Minimalist government intervention in the economy: a reversal of the trend we have witnessed in the last month.
- A strong national defense to protect our liberties, but an end to the interventionism of the Bush doctrine.
- A continued respect for all life, but a divorce from right wing
evangelicals with narrow social agendas whose desired intrusiveness in
private lives is counter-Conservative.
- Zero tolerance for abuse of power from any man, Republican or Democrat; and the highest ethical standards.
Other policy implications issue from the core principles.
Conservative literature that was so prolific in the mid 1900’s provide
rigorous theoretical underpinnings for these principles. Together they
could serve as the new platform for the Republican Party, or the
platform for the new Republican Party.
Congratulations to President-elect Obama for elevating our country
to judge a man “by the content of his character, not the color of his
skin” as Martin Luther King dreamed.
And for others who are dismayed by the election result: do not go gently into that good night. Conservatism must come back.
Let’s be clear and objective: the Republicans wounded America.
America answered back. Now how will the Party respond? The answer
depends on whether we believe — deeply believe, in Conservative
principles.
I do.
Because if we do, we know a) Liberalism will not work, b) the
American thirst for freedom will not remain unquenched; therefore, c)
Conservatism will be resurgent.
Clarity can be a wonderful thing.