Conservatism has been too often defined as the “safe bet” – the part of the political spectrum that always moves towards the status quo. This is a huge generalization that completely snuffs from history the rather progressive (forgive the word) policies that Republicans have put forth in the past few years.
Throughout the Obama administration, it was the conservative bloc that stopped the travesty of single payer and moved the needle enough to create a health care system that was at least viable in the short term. Going back on this policy is not going back to the status quo. The status quo for American health care is a nebulous quandary – people are neither fully empowered to retain their own care or fully protected by the government. Only conservatives are allowing the American public to truly make a choice about it, and this is as forward thinking as politics gets in the modern era.
As President Trump continues to make his presence known throughout the world with well received work at the United Nations, conservatives now have an opportunity to engage a new definition of their politics behind him. President Trump is the maverick that John McCain is always marketed to be. Anyone with the guts to call out rogue regimes to their faces at the United Nations definitely deserves to be called a forward-thinking entity.
But is the conservatism emerging from the Trump era the same as the pious, small government philosophy espoused by Ronald Reagan and his followers?
Along with forward-thinking action, the new definition of conservatism must include the word “direction.” Some liberals may have a point, however slight, in critiquing some conservatives in the legislature about being negative with no alternative. It is true that liberals put forth many more bills in total than conservatives over the life of the Obama administration. This is a fact. Far too many conservatives sat on their hands while liberals pushed through bill after bill during Obama’s terms. The excuse was that Republican bills had no chance. Maybe they didn’t. However, productive sessions would have brought forth ideas that could come to fruition when conservatives came back into power.
This will not be the legacy of the Trump administration. The president has already made great strides in redefining conservatism through action. His lead from the executive branch will necessitate action from the legislative, whether or not they like it. Now that conservative initiatives have more of a chance to actually see the light of day, there is no excuse for conservative lawmakers not to step up their game.
Forward thinking action is more than legislation. It includes taking back the lead in the battle for public opinion as well. Conservatism, even the successful conservatism of the Trump administration, continues to take a beating in the public polls. President Trump has an approval rating that he does not deserve considering his early accomplishments, which include a huge influx of new jobs, the lowest unemployment rate in almost two decades and the new proliferation of American business across the globe. However, to hear the American people tell it, President Trump is failing on every count.
We can blame a good deal of this on the liberal mainstream media with a knack for twisting statistics. You always have to watch the polls that you consider, because these are just as for profit and politically motivated as any other tool of politics. However, they can only twist statistics so much. There are some good hearted conservative people who are legitimately being fooled by the slander in the polls. It is up to conservatives who know what is really going on to take back the narrative.
How can this be done? Simple. Do not allow anyone, especially paid shills from the liberal media, to create a false narrative from a forward thinking action from a conservative. Any action can be scrutinized, but the results speak for themselves. These results should be the story, not the action alone.
Conservative media gets into a nasty habit of trying to defend its actions against liberal scrutiny. Liberals are going to scrutinize strong moves by conservatives. This is what pays their bills and keeps them on vacation. However, the redefinition of conservatism must include leaving the child’s play in the sandbox.
~ Conservative Zone
