Politics of today has become very divided, it’s plain to see Conservatives and Liberals cannot engage in civil discourse any more. Yes, this is largely because hate and name calling is main tactic used by Liberals, but this does not mean that Conservatives have to lower themselves to that level.
It seems like it was a lifetime ago since Ronald Reagan won his two electoral land slides in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections. While it was a divided nation, Ronald Reagan had a way of appealing to the masses that has not been seen since.
Ever since Barrack Obama swept into power, with his hyper-Liberal agenda that ‘fundamentally changed America,’ he has done nothing but divide us. Of course the straw that broke the camels back was Obamacare. That travesty on the American people gave dawn to the modern Tea Party, a Fiscal Conservative movement that attracted Republicans, Libertarians, and fiscally Conservative Democrats. Many of the ‘Reagan Democrats’ had also found a home again, but this would be short lived.
Today, the so-called Reagan Democrat base has all but evaporated. Discourse has gotten to the point that the Conservative message seems to have been lost in the shuffle and many of those that communicate the message do so with hostility and pushing those on the fence away.
Even though Republicans have had some electoral success, we have not been able to decisively win on the national stage, and when we do it’s barely. What’s missing? The obvious answer is the ‘Democrat Light’ legislation being passed by our leaders, causing the message to become confused. At the same time, frustration with leadership has been angering Conservatives to the point that they feel the need to force their opinion in order to be heard.
I contend that we have to be better than that, by being so forceful, they are not hearing our common sense message thus preventing them from changing their minds.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we acquiesce to the Left in an effort to gain votes, I am saying we focus on a message that makes people realize they agree more than not. Reagan’s message was always about letting the American Machine run full steam ahead without the shackles of ‘big government’ interfering. In other words, fiscal Conservative policies have much wider acceptance.
In the end, we can’t force people to change their minds, because a few days later, someone can change it back. Instead, we should give people information and facts, let those facts resonate and let them change their own minds. If that happens, we have their support for life.
Welcoming these people will give the Conservative cause more votes and thus more victories. It also has the added benefit of putting pressure on our leaders to govern as Conservatives.
We all need to take a deep breath, and have a calm discourse. Let the facts prevail and we will prevail.
