Posted by
Tom Anderson on Sunday, November 30, 2008 8:21:15 AM
It's been a while since I've written, but that's because I haven't found anything worth writing about...until this morning.
Mark Sanford of South Carolina wrote an excellent article on Politico.com yesterday (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15980.html), explaining what we as conservatives need to do to get back on the electoral horse, so to speak.
He outlines 3 core principles:
- Get back to saying what we mean and meaning what we say - how can we expect independents and moderates to support us an our principles if we don't govern according to how we campaign? As conservatives, we need to act as conservative as we talk.
- Be loyal to ideas, not individuals - Sanford uses Ted Stevens as a prime example of this concept. In competitive campaign climates, we could also use the argument against some of the most liberal, out-of-touch people in DC. I'm thinking Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy here, among others.
- Look to the states for answers, not to DC - Sanford gives a lot of good examples of progress being made by Republican governors getting things done by enacting policy according to conservative principles. If it's working at the state level, why can't it work at the national level.
If we really want to come out of the electoral wilderness with a reinvigorated message in 2010, I can't think of a better way to do it than by acting according to Sanford's three principles STARTING RIGHT NOW. If we can prove over the next 2 years that we can act according to the conservative ideals held by the majority in our center-right country - if we can walk the walk instead of just talking the talk - then we'll have a much better chance of taking back some of the seats we lost this year because of the RINOs in our midst. I'm not sure we can take back control of either house completely, but we can gain back the momentum and set the stage for great things in 2012.