Polling shows that more Americans identify themselves as conservative or center-right than progressive. The conservative advantage has been increasing over the past 20 years. But the advantage isn't just in political leanings. Since 1994, Republicans have controlled one or more branches of Congress for all but six years. They have also controlled most of the state governorships as well.
So, with this political dominance, one would expect that conservatives are setting the agenda and steering the nation in a conservative direction. They would expect that, but the reality is that the left is winning and setting the direction.
How is this possible with conservatives winning most of the time at the ballot box? For three reasons.
1.) The left, when they are in power, uses that time to advance their agenda despite polls showing strong opposition by voters to it. They are not afraid to lose political power if they pass their plan. Take the example of Obamacare. Polling showed that the public opposed it, and Democrats would pay the price in 2010. They still passed the legislation and lost the House and several Senate seats.
Now, contrast this with Republicans. They vowed if a Republican Congress and president were elected, they would repeal Obamacare. Voters handed both chambers of Congress and the White House to the GOP in 2016. A Republican Congress failed to repeal Obamacare.Â
2.) Conservatives always take a legalistic and fact-based approach. Look at abortion. Since the Supreme Court issued the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, conservatives have always made the argument that it was unconstitutional because the federal government had no right in setting policies for the states – abortion was a state issue. Sound legal reasoning. Yet disastrous in the court of public opinion (just ask Robert Bork). Conservatives also promised if Republicans were elected to the White House, they would appoint strict constitutionalists to the Supreme Court who would ultimately overturn Roe. This finally happened in the Dobbs decision. Yet, based on polling, we won the argument but lost the voters. How is this possible?
The left constructed abortion as a woman's right, her basic freedom and if it could happen to women, who else might be targeted. If abortion was lost, what would happen next? Maybe the conservatives would take away a woman's right to vote or take away civil rights from African Americans, gays, lesbians and the list goes on. The left made the Dobbs decision all about an assault on freedom. Democratic members of Congress wore lapel pins saying they loved abortion. Most Americans do not love abortion. But when the left made the argument that repealing Roe was an assault on basic liberties, a majority favored abortion rights. And even worse most conservatives were silent or making the legalistic argument for Dobbs. This all helped parlay the red wave into a red drip in November.
3.) The left begins pushing their most extreme arguments with a long-term plan and are willing to compromise along the way to reach their objectives. Look at the battles we are seeing waged about rewriting American history in our classrooms. The left has been pushing that narrative since the late 1960s. They advocated doing away with Columbus Day, reparations for slavery and a condemnation of our nation's founding. While conservatives believe America is a special experiment, the left sees it as being founded by evil and our nation as nothing special. The far-left agenda was laughed at in the 1960s and 1970s. But at each turn, the left compromised and accepted small portions of their agenda to achieve their objective.
Reparations for slavery? Let's set up study commissions. Now, states and cities across the nation are not just studying reparations but implementing reparations. Christopher Columbus? First it was let us reevaluate him and put him in perspective. Now, Columbus is considered the face of evil. Statues that haven't been destroyed are being packed up into storage. There is even a strong movement among the New York City Council to rename Columbus Circle and destroy the Columbus statue. The 1619 Project is now considered gospel among many Americans. Thirty years ago, the proposition that the nation was founded upon slavery and the Revolution was fought over this was considered absurd, save for the extreme left. Despite historians pointing out its fallacies our children are being indoctrinated into it. Our founders? Go to Mount Vernon, Monticello or James Madison's Montpelier and little of their contributions to America are mentioned. What is mentioned is that they were slaveholders and founded the nation to preserve slavery. In classrooms, children are taught the British fought the American Revolution to free the slaves, despite no evidence of this. In the nation's capital, there is a strong movement to rename Washington, D.C. At the Washington Monument, and other monuments, markers denoting our Founders' faults are being erected. The insane is now mainstream.
Conservatives, on the other hand, do not have long-range planning. We are lucky to plan a few months to a year ahead of time. And even worse, we have an all-or-nothing attitude in advancing our agenda. And far too often, it is nothing.
Conservatives are winning the electoral battles, yet we are losing the war. Unless we change our tactics, America will be the face of the far left.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Start playing dirty AND attack some people especially when they aren’t currently running for some office. Now would be the time to attack Stacy Abrams for her election-denying and lies about the voting rights bill Georgia passed and the business lost as a result.
How about lose the word “dirty” and instead use strong and effective actions. “They fight dirty” does not create a positive impression – it is not right to return evil for evil. Behavior should be such that people choose to follow, not cause fear or repulsion. Dirty connotates a lack of morals and integrity. Aim to maintain virtue in the process of the fight, and fight hard!
I would prefer “start playing for keeps”. Considering what is at stake — the continued existence of a representative democracy in this part of North America — conservatives need to start playing to win by any means necessary. And, for heaven’s sake, let’s stop the bickering and back-biting between each other and recognize that we’re all on the same team.
Play dirty like the Dems make=
Or lose 2024
Go Hi Tech
Legalize ballott harvesting?
This is largely correct. I have maintained for years that because conservative principles are right and moral and have been the existing standard since the founding, the feeling for the need to fight for them has been underestimated and under-prioritized. The attitude is that far left-wing principles will simply not catch on in the long run. One must remember that good and evil exist in this world and evil will endlessly fight hard to overtake good; so, as the author states, “Unless we change our tactics, America will be the face of the far left,” is a very real possibility. The Left is working by any means necessary to gain a permanent super-majority by indoctrination, buying of votes, locking-in peoples votes through dependency for living, and changing the rules, including abandoning the U.S. Constitution. People say the democrats are running the county into the ground. This may be so, and on purpose. The collapse of the U.S. would be one means and an opportunity to implement a fully socialist replacement government. May it never be so; but, it will take long-range, continual efforts to prevent it. Efforts that exceed the efforts of the opposition.