Conservatives Must Take Back the
GOP
Commentary by Senator John
Loudon
Another election has come and gone. And those of us
taken-for-granted conservatives have a question. If the moderates are done with
the Republican Party, can we have it back now?
We watched in 2000 as George W. Bush redefined conservatism to include
government handouts, intrusive government and a lax enforcement of federal
law. But the conservatives held their nose and 
got
out the vote, because he wasn’t too bad. We
convinced ourselves it would be OK.
Eight years later, I think we were wrong. To be fair, President
Bush gave us some decent judges on the Supreme Court. He also managed to prevent more terrorist
attacks on our soil. He limited some abortions and instilled some common sense
tax cuts that allowed Americans to keep more of their hard earned money. But we
also got huge government bailouts, porous borders and huge new welfare
programs.
In 2004, the moderates convinced some of the conservative leaders
to move to the center, because that is where they said victory was.
The rumbling started. Conservatives in Pennsylvania who had gone
door-to-door for Santorum in 2000, stayed home in 2006. The base of the party
was uninspired by this new centrist. And then Santorum refused to support the Marriage
Amendment on the 2006 ballot. The base took note.
On Election Day, the Marriage Amendment passed. And centrist
Santorum lost. The people spoke.
Fast forward to 2008. The GOP nominated John McCain, a centrist
and a maverick, but not a conservative. McCain is not a pro-life advocate, a
free speech advocate, or a small government advocate. He is another Bush.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This time
around, the base was not going to be fooled. Yes, most voted for McCain, but
they were not inspired. Many saw no
reason to vote for him at all until he added Governor Palin to his ticket. McCain was simply a more pragmatic preference
over Obama. People were not inspired by
a particular vision or grand ideas or conservative principles of freedom,
limited government and a strong America. We wanted another Ronald Reagan.
So the Republicans lost again. After eight years of redefined
conservatism, the Republican Party is adrift and relatively powerless. We cannot design national policy, pass our
agenda or appoint judges. If the
political left has its way, abortions will increase, talk radio will be
censored, taxes will go up, our nation will be viewed as weak geopolitically,
and marriage will be redefined.
But it’s not too late.
We are going to hear many of those in power in the Republican
Party claim that the conservatives were the reason we lost. They will say we
need to go even more to the left because that is what inspired people. People
do not vote Republican because they are liberal. If you are a liberal, you vote
Democrat. You have no reason to switch parties. So, when the GOP goes left you
end up with a party that loses, because liberals will vote Democrat, and
conservatives will stay home.
The real answer is returning to what worked, returning to the
American spirit of independence. We must
allow American families to keep the money they earn and to unapologetically
promote the idea of a limited government that does not intrude into daily life.
We must stand for economic freedom not economic provision. We must reward success not punish it. In short, we need to return to the principles
of freedom and equality of which our Founding Fathers, Dr. Martin Luther King,
and Ronald Reagan spoke.
Conservatism works. We just need conservatives running the
Republican Party again to give it a chance.
Move over moderates. You had your shot, and lost big. It’s our turn
again.
John Loudon is a Republican Missouri State Senator from Chesterfield.
He was first elected to the House in 1994 and the Senate in 2000.
He runs a business development and marketing firm with his wife, Dr.
Gina Loudon. They have five children
including their adopted son Sammuel.
