Conservatism Still Works When Tried

John Hawkins wrote a good article for Townhall in which he discusses the lunacy coming from the liberal wing of the "conservative" party - folks like David Frum, Peggy Noonan, Chris Buckley, etc. The argument they put forward is that McCain's losing because he is trying to be "too conservative" - and cite Palin as their evidence. Hawkins points out a few important facts. 1) Bush was not a conservative and it was his "compassionate conservatism" (read: massive spending) that disenchanted conservatives. Second, it was policies pushed by people like John McCain and his liberal RINO allies (illegal immigration, No Child Left Behind, the Paulson bailout, etc.) that further alienated Republicans. On the bailout, David Frum spoke glowingly about Barney Frank's leadership. Does Frum really think Americans agree with him about the man who was in Fannie Mae's back pocket?

A couple things I would add that Hawkins missed: conservatism overwhelmingly wins when tried. Why did Democrats win Congress in '06? They found a bunch of Dems who ran as conservatives. They ran on tax cuts, guns and religion, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference if they voted with Pelosi & Co. 95% of the time after the election was over. Why is Obama considered acceptable by non-interested citizens despite his radical associations and redistributionist, big government mentality? Because he says he's really a conservative Democrat who likes guns, religion and tax cuts (never mind the fact that they're all lies or distortions and his "tax cuts" are simply welfare payments). Poll after poll suggests that Americans overwhelmingly want lower taxes and less government regulation. Obama claims that is his platform and the media are only too happy to help him in his fraud. (Why hasn't a single reporter asked Obama why an increase in tax rates across every income bracket, even at the low end, a tax increase? Or capital gains taxes? Or payroll taxes? ...)

The bottom line is obvious - conservative ideas are popular and nearly always win. Even when applied to social issues, most Americans are in favor of traditional marriage, the second Amendment and are opposed to partial birth abortions and infanticide. Most Americans are tolerant, but realize that there are certain family values that allow society to function and do not want to live in a society based on the mores of San Francisco or Berkeley. Democrats are simply a lot better at pretending to be conservative than conservatives are in correcting the record.

And should Democrats sweep power next week, the politicians will quickly change their tune and say that Americans voted for a liberal mandate. And the David Frums and Peggy Noonans of the world will say that conservatism is dead and they need to be more like Democrats.