You know the Republican Party is lost when failed GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin of “legitimate rape” fame takes to the conspiracy theory website WorldNetDaily to lecture his fellow conservatives on how to win elections. Akin, who received just 39 percent of the vote against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in a state Mitt Romney won by ten points, claims that the Republican Party is struggling because it is not conservative enough. Because we all know Akin would have defeated McCaskill if only he was more conservative!
In the column, Akin links secular government to violence, warns that the Democratic Party is turning the US into the Soviet Union and calls on conservative activists to run on their strict opposition to abortion rights, which obviously paid dividends for Akin.
We here at Right Wing Watch commend Akin’s efforts and hope future right-wing candidates follow in his path of disastrous election defeats. After they lose they can always write for WorldNetDaily. Just ask Rick Santorum.
Like a patient with an injury, the Republican Party is surrounded by many advising doctors who prescribe conflicting “cures.” Because, these cures can’t all be right, we should review our history for examples so that we choose the right one.
We have all heard the group of advisers who think the cure is that the Republican Party should become less conservative and more like the Democrats. They fault imperfect candidates who aren’t moderate enough. While no candidate is perfect (including me), this cure doesn’t explain why more moderate Republican Senate candidates lost in 2012 than conservatives. Through the lens of history, we see that the GOP needs the principled identity conservatives afford, that conservatism is a winning platform, and that conservative principles are what undergird America’s freedom. The Republican Party should boldly stand on its conservative values. This is the true cure.
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The conservative position is a winning platform. While some argue that Republicans must become more pragmatic to create a winning platform, history says otherwise. The conservative Republican Presidents Lincoln, Coolidge, Eisenhower and Reagan were all very popular. They had a passion and confidence from standing on principle. In contrast, Nixon, Dole, McCain and now Romney were less comfortable defending conservative positions, and were less successful. A “fire in the bones” is more convincing than dry statistics.
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The recognition of a Creator is core to conservative belief. Our founders fought the biggest military power in the world because they believed, as Jefferson said, “our liberties are the gift of God.” In sharp contrast, the Democrats last year tried to kick God out of their convention! President Washington, in his Farewell Address, asserted, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.” Ignoring Washington, our liberal courts have censored school prayer and the words “Thou shalt not kill” from classrooms. How has the loss of these conservative principles been working for us?
From painful experience, our founders understood the importance of limited government; therefore, they gave us a written constitution and the rule of law. Conservatives agree. In contrast, liberals and Democrats show a deep and abiding faith in their all-powerful government. The Soviet Union provided their citizens with food, health care, housing, education and employment, the same things the liberals are doing here in the U.S. The liberal’s blind faith ignores the lesson of the last century. A government that can give everything can also take everything. Communist governments alone killed more of their citizens than those who died in two World Wars. Big government is more deadly than war itself. America’s success has been tied to the conservative principle of limited government.
The founders, like conservatives today, placed a high value on individual life and liberty. However, they paid a terrible price for ignoring slavery. What will be the cost of ignoring the killing of over 50 million unborn Americans? Democrats support abortion and use the power of the government to force everyone else to be part of paying for it, all in the name of “choice.” Conservatives believe that abortion waters down our moral currency and cheapens life.
Finally, our founders and conservatives today stress individual responsibility. My parents’ generation labored and sacrificed to pass on a brighter future to their children. They believed in private property and hard work, and took a dim view of socialism and dependency. The Obama administration is burning over a trillion dollars a year in deficit spending on a $3.5 trillion budget. Our addiction to handouts will create poverty and dependence and leave our children in economic slavery. We must not trade our inheritance of freedom for the golden chains of dependency to the welfare state.
For these and many other reasons, the Republican Party needs to embrace conservatism. It needs to stop apologizing for the fact it stands on principle and needs to stop eating its own. It should boldly communicate that the prosperity and freedom we enjoy come from conservative principles.
