Townhall Review | Conservative Commentary On Today's News

After last week's elections, Republicans need a way forward. They must show Americans they have serious ideas for governing and draw a sharp contrast with Democrats.

Simply being the party of "no" won't cut it.

Instead, Republicans should advance legislation on issues where overwhelming majorities agree with them, then dare Democrats to vote it down again and again.

Require proof of citizenship to vote. Impose tough penalties for child trafficking and fentanyl distribution. Cut bureaucratic red tape. Deny federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions that protect violent illegal immigrants. Keep biological males out of girls' sports.

These are common-sense policies with broad public support, and they offer Republicans a chance to show voters exactly where each party stands.

Ignoring voters' concerns helped put Republicans in the political wilderness. Let's hope they've learned their lesson.

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Since November 3rd, conservative writers have been asking such questions like “What now for conservatism,” “Is the conservative movement in crisis?”

250 years after the birth of a nation dedicated to self-evident truths entitling our citizens to the rights to life, liberty, and happiness we, now, find ourselves in a search for meaning.  To paraphrase Harry Jaffa, since a conservative is supposed to have something definite to conserve it is ironic and worse that conservatism does not have the meaning for which it is searching to conserve.

Our modern movement was born to restore our founding ethos; oppose communism, statism, and internationalism; and maximize individual liberty while preserving the family.  These challenges have only grown worse.  And, we can now add not just communism abroad but at home—and Islamism. 

We don’t need a new meaning, but, rather, rededication to and understanding of our original one, which is still an economics of liberty and a sociology of virtue.  To borrow from Plato, just now is the exact time to readopt and unlock the very things we used to know.

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The GOP isn’t dead, but it sure does look and feel that way in the harsh light of the day after last week’s walloping.

But the Republican Party isn’t dead. It’s just beaten badly, and it will take some years to mend. A lesson from the endless rebuild of the Cleveland Browns: There aren’t any shortcuts. You need patience, and you have to work through the draft.

President Trump remains the leader of a badly banged-up party.

He’s often been a terrific cheerleader. He needs to be so again.

The greatness of the Republic is its wonderful resilience. The Constitution is terrifically strong, a work of genius that endures. Parties thought dead beyond recovery indeed do come back. That lesson is not ancient history.

Recall the eclipse of the GOP after Barry Goldwater’s kamikaze presidential run in 1964, which left the GOP with just 32 senators and 140 members in the House. Really.

Recovery after a political crash out can be painful, but it’s best undertaken with clear eyes about what ails the GOP body politic.

Let’s get busy.

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Republicans are reeling from the massive electoral defeat they’ve just suffered. Some argue that emboldened Democrats will inevitably overreach, handing Republicans the presidency and Congress in two years.

Perhaps.

But the most troubling implications of this election are long-term. Americans voted for avowed socialists. And they supported a candidate whose family has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

That’s more than a political problem. It’s an educational and cultural one.

For decades, our schools and our culture have taught generations of Americans that their country is irredeemably flawed, that creating wealth is morally suspect, and that government should redistribute what some have earned to others.

The consequences of those lessons are now becoming clear at the ballot box.

We have work to do.

Because unless we change what Americans are taught — and the stories our culture tells — this election may be only the beginning.

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There are many reasons for the stinging repudiation Republicans suffered at the polls this week. But none is more important than this:

As President Reagan understood, elections are about the future. Always. They’re about what voters want and need — and what politicians propose to do about it.

Any politician will run into trouble if he or she forgets that. Elections aren't about them. They're about the voters.

And any party that ignores voters’ priorities — offering no real accomplishments, no solutions, and no plans — is asking for defeat.

This election was ugly. Its repercussions may be felt for years to come. And it has helped normalize candidates whose left-wing views were once considered far outside the mainstream.

All because Republicans forgot the most basic rule of politics: It’s not about them. It’s about the future. And the voters.

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