ARE CONSERVATIVES WINNING OR LOSING?
Bill Sizemore, NewsWithViews.com, July 19, 2003
...For nearly 50 years, liberal Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. Conservatives were routinely clobbered by the superior numbers of those espousing the liberal philosophy. Today, however, REPUBLICANS CONTROL both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, as well as the presidency. An entire generation of conservatives has never experienced such a phenomenon.
So. imagine how the liberals must be feeling about such a dramatic turn of events. Remember an entire generation of liberals also has never experienced a Republican House, Senate, and presidency. And they are in SHOCK.
On the other hand, however, it is not all rosy for conservatives. Republicans are in control alright, but they are doing such a lousy job of controlling spending and are doing such a great job of compromising with the liberals that many conservatives are wondering if it is even worth the effort to work for and support Republicans. I've wondered that more than once myself. But let’s look at the part of the glass that is half full.
Al Gore is not President. Al Gore is not sitting in the Oval Office vetoing conservative bills passed by Congress, like tax cuts and elimination of the estate tax. Al Gore is not the one standing before joint sessions of Congress and giving state of the nation speeches outlining his liberal prescription for stimulating the economy. We don't have President Gore lobbying the Senate for ratification of the KYOTO TREATY and throwing our economy into the dark ages. Be glad that the Bush administration is not focusing its attention and resources on some FOOLHARDY war to stop GLOBAL WARMING. Gore would be.
Yes, the glass is half empty, but it's half full. Conservatives should be discouraged by recent Supreme Court decisions regarding AFFIRMATIVE ACTION and GAY RIGHTS, but the news from the court isn’t all bad. For example, both decisions were both close. A small shift on the court could turn things around entirely.
More encouragingly, the candidates President Bush has nominated for the FEDERAL BENCH have been for the most part the kinds of strict constitutional constructionists that conservatives have been asking for. This bodes well for the future. We could be looking at eight years of Al Gore appointees; judges that would only reinforce the liberal bent of the judiciary for the next decade or two, but we're not. Things indeed could be worse. There is actually cause for hope.
Not only is there hope of turning the judiciary around, but also consider the progress conservatives have made in the MEDIA. For decades, conservatives have complained about the stranglehold liberals have held on the media. Today, the major networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, the bastions of liberal bias, collectively have suffered greatly diminished market share; reaching a much smaller share of the American people with their bias. And the New York Times, another liberal stronghold has recently lost a tremendous amount of clout and credibility. ...Meanwhile, FOX NEWS, the INTERNET, and TALK RADIO offer serious competition for the traditional liberal propaganda machines.
...Let’s go back to the Bush administration for a moment. Yes, conservatives could be discouraged that the Bush tax cuts were not as big as we wished. But they were BUSH TAX CUTS, not Gore tax increases. The movement towards lower taxes, albeit small, is in the right direction. And how can conservatives not be encouraged that both the estate tax and the marriage penalty are on the way out. Thank you, President Bush and Republican Congress.
Should conservatives be upset that for political purposes Bush is trying so hard to be seen as a compassionate conservative that he failed to CONDEMN the Supreme Courts MISGUIDED decision on affirmative action; and has even lobbied for some of the social programs that the Democrats want? Of course. And we should let him know about it.
Don't misunderstand, I don’t want to make excuses for the president’s failures, but let’s put things into perspective. We conservatives tend to be purists. We want a conservative country with low taxes and a more limited government, and we want it now. That vision puts the fire in our bellies. But that’s also part of the reason we lost for so many years ... that's not the way to win a CULTURAL WAR.
Have we forgotten that we got into this mess one step at a time. Remember, it took the liberals more than fifty years to create the SEMI-SOCIALIST government under which we subsist today. It took fifty years to get into this mess, but we expect Bush in two or three years to turn the ship of state, which has every bit the momentum of an oil tanker traveling across the ocean at full steam, a full 180 degrees. It doesn’t work that way.
...In the world of politics, radical change it is not always a realistic option. It is a political reality that it is the SWING VOTERS, the apolitical ones in the middle, who decide most elections, not the true believers on the left and the right. Those voters in the middle are afraid of EXTREMES. They are frightened by sudden or radical movements in either direction, to the right or the left. Any effort to move the country too quickly in either direction will cause them to move the opposite way.
For that reason, President Bush may be wise to take smaller, measured steps. Are his steps too small or too measured? Perhaps.
In many ways, however, the Bush administration is merely a reflection of the times in which we live. Remember, George W. Bush became the president of the United States in an election decided by a margin that was as narrow as a gnat’s eyelash. Remember, he actually LOST the popular vote.
...Conservatives have indeed made great strides in recent years, but we have not yet overwhelmingly won the hearts and minds of the American people. Most CITY DWELLERS, for example, and they are many, are still very much addicted to finding government solutions for every problem. For them, the concept of individual responsibility is ENTIRELY FORIEGN to their everyday thinking and overall worldview. To them, every bum, dropout, and criminal is a victim and worthy of a HANDOUT at taxpayer expense.
Most of those folks are going to vote in the next election. Bush knows it and Bush’s advisors know it. Those moderate and liberal URBAN VOTERS almost defeated Bush in November of 2000 and if he is not careful, they will get him next time and we will have a Gore or Gore clone in the White House.
...When we look at the big picture, however, we see that conservatives have made great strides in recent years. We have gone from way behind to maybe a little bit ahead. This is hardly the time to give up. This is the time rather to push harder than ever before. The tide is moving. Momentum is shifting to our side...
Do not judge where we are today by the victory or loss of the moment. Look at the trend. See the shift in momentum. And remember, it is not necessary that we score a touchdown today. It is only necessary that the ball be advanced, one yard at a time, down the field in the direction we want it to move. As long as that is happening, we're winning.
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Bill Sizemore is a registered Independent who works as executive director of the Oregon Taxpayers Union as a self-described "Anti-tax activist." Bill was the Republican candidate for governor of Oregon in 1998 where he and his family live on 36 rural acres. Bill was raised in the logging communities of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state and is a graduate of Portland Bible College where he taught for two years.
