Conservatism IS NOT Dead
Feb 28th 2008Scott2nd Amendment & American History & Politics & Senate Confirmations & U.S. Military & War on Terrorism & Wyoming & Yellowstone East Gate & blogging & conservatism & elections & multiple use & patriotism & pro-life issues & socialized healthcare & taxes & traditional marriage & wolves
This election cycle has been quite interesting. We could even go back to the 2006 elections and make it even more interesting.
Yesterday the news of the passing of conservative commentator William F. Buckley, Jr. broke. While it seemed to be an under-noticed event by the media, when they did point it out, you could almost hear the glee in their voices reporting that another one of our guys was off the scene. Too bad for them that he was a writer, so his words and thoughts can still be passed along. He was a great thinker and the country is a better place for him sharing his thoughts.
When situations like this arise, the speculation always arises if conservatism/the conservative movement is dead. Well, if ideology is wrapped up and dependent upon one person alone propagating it, I suppose the speculation has some legitimacy. Only problem is that a conservative leader usually ends up with followers, and those followers learn the principles, and so they pick up the torch when the leader passes on.
Notice how when people like Paul Wellstone die, the talking heads don’t speculate on the notion that liberalism/the socialist-liberal movement might be dead or dieing. No, it’s always alive and well, even when the liberals lose elections. But if a conservative loses, Limbaugh is on the verge of being history. Go figure.
I know things on the national level look bleak (even Hucksters are falling by the wayside for the presumptive nominee), but I believe that conservatism is not dead.
- Conservative-minded talk shows still populate the airwaves in most locales for the better part of the day.
- Syndicated columnists are published nearly every day of every week in newspapers, magazines, and websites.
- Books expressing conservative thought are still written, published and purchased.
- Conservative bloggers are gaining a voice in the arena of ideas.
- Candidates are still running on conservative platforms.
- Elected officials that practice liberalism after campaigning on conservatism loose popularity back home.
Conservatism still has hope and it still has a future. We just need to figure out in the next few years why we let people water it down and redefine it.
2 Comments »
Brian McCrorie on 28 Feb 2008 at 10:06 am #
You should read my latest post on my blog. I don’t believe for one moment that conservatism is dead. However, conservatism IS losing at the moment on several fronts and needs to be invigorated and reorganized. The Coalition for a Conservative Majority is doing exactly that.
Scott on 28 Feb 2008 at 3:23 pm #
I think we’re in agreement that conservatism has a battle ahead. I pointed out your McCain-support post as evidence of things looking bleak for conservatives nationally. I don’t see your change as the death-knell for conservatism, just an alarm bell.
We have some good things going on the state and local level and I believe that’s where conservatives are going to be energized on this election. As things stand now, I think a large portion of conservative excitement for McCain will be more of an anti-Democrat vote than a pro-Republican vote.
I did give your post a look last night. The CCM sounds like a great idea and hopefully they can play an effective role in rallying conservatives together on all the major platforms of conservatism.