Monday night’s caucuses went how off-year caucuses typically go — or at least it seemed. We listened to a number of speeches from candidates running for various offices across the state. Ironically, all of them cast themselves as conservatives.
Perhaps the proper term for many of these folks is “campaign conservatives.” It’s a simple idea — during the campaign season, they’re proud conservatives. But, once elected, well, they’re as conservative as they think they can be while still getting elected. And often, that’s not very conservative. At all.
And that needs to change.
As Republican voters, we need to change. The speeches are nice. Words can make us feel good, energetic, reassured. We show up for an hour or so, listen to a bunch of three- or five-minute speeches and we’re appeased. We’re told pretty much every Republican running for office is a conservative.
Hoo-ray!
But those are words. They’re speeches. Conservatives have to forget about what we’re told and instead focus on what we see. It has to be a new approach — don’t tell me, show me.
Don’t tell me you’re a conservative — show me you’re a conservative. And, while we’re at it, let’s define what makes someone a conservative.
It isn’t “conservative” to do the easy things. The easy things shouldn’t be celebrated. What should be celebrated are the candidates and conservatives who show a willingness not just to fight back against the Radical Democrats, but also the RINO Republicans.
I would argue Democrats are not — NOT — the biggest threat to this country. Democrats are literally the opposition. They don’t claim to share our values and beliefs. They’re not supposed to represent us (conservatives). But moderate/establishment/RINO Republicans are the political threat of our time.
Those politicians who we were told are our conservative allies in these even-numbered years when their names appear on the ballot, yet are silent for more than a year when Americans are held in a D.C. prison without due process or explanation. And they remain silent for more than a year about an unarmed Air Force veteran who went to D.C. in her final days as she was shot dead in the U.S. Capitol by an officer who had previously left his loaded service weapon in a bathroom and offered little to no warning prior to pulling the trigger on Jan. 6, 2021.
These moderate/RINO/establishment Republicans are more than happy to stand by silently while actual conservatives are punished and vilified by the Radical Left. It turns out, when it comes to actually taking a stand and actually doing something, they’re more likely to side with Democrats than stand with conservatives.
We’re talking about the hard things. The things that are no-win situations in the media. Basketball coaches don’t look for players who can do the easy things — most can. Uncontested layups are simple.
But what separates the actual conservatives from the many fakes is what they do when it is difficult. And Republican voters have to stop celebrating expected behavior. We must demand more.
We need to examine the urgency — or lack thereof — many elected Republicans have. Democrats — as wrong as they are on the issues — will fight to the death for their beliefs. Republicans — as right as they are on the issues — refuse to get uncomfortable for their beliefs.
When Democrats are in control, they go full speed toward the cliff. When Republicans wrestle back control, they often just slow things down, put it on cruise control and do their best to simply not be Democrats.
But Republicans don’t typically actually stop the car and turn the thing around. Democrats take power and make huge advancements. Republicans don’t.
This isn’t to say Republicans haven’t accomplished good things — many good things — since taking control. But it certainly seems like the pace these good things are accomplished at is significantly slower than the speed of the Left when they’re in charge.
Republicans must match the urgency for their conservative values and beliefs that Democrats utilize for their radical liberal ideas.
We can’t continue to be a play-it-safe-first-party. We need to be a get-as-much-done-as-possible-party. And, preferably, get it done fast.
Republicans cannot keep electing people who will play it safe rather than play to their conservative base.
It was “good enough” in 2021 to simply not be a Democrat. I’m not so sure Republicans won the Governor’s race in Virginia. I am convinced Democrats lost it.
I think it is quite likely that Republicans simply needed to not be Democrats to win in 2021. Americans reject the preferred pronoun blitz in schools. They reject schools teaching Critical Race Theory in classrooms. They reject mask and vaccine mandates. They reject efforts to defund the police.
They reject much of the most vocal elements of the Radical Left.
But it isn’t enough for Republicans to simply NOT be those things. We need Republicans who will be for the opposite of those things. And advance them. And advance as many of them as possible as quickly as possible.
There is no reason to play it safe any longer. Republicans must work to return our state and our country to a time where things were much simpler. And they were simpler because they were far saner. Somehow, society knew which bathroom to use based on which parts they had to use in the bathroom. And there wasn’t any question. It was pretty clear.
Things have changed dramatically the last 10 years or so in politics. The divide between conservative and liberal has grown wider than ever. And this shouldn’t be a shock.
The political struggle is no longer about right versus wrong. It is good versus evil. Make no mistake, only one of the two competing worldviews will win in the end.
Now, we know which worldview wins in the end when it comes to eternity, but it would sure be nice to avoid having to live through victories for evil here on this Earth.
We’re not going to avoid that by continuing to elect people to office who lack the urgency necessary to not just stop the Left, but turn things around. Democrats advance things further and faster for one simple reason — they want it more.
Elected Democrats embrace their radical ideas and advance them at all costs. Far too many elected Republicans are content to maintain power and control as long as possible, but forget to ever utilize it to its fullest extent.
We need Republicans who recognize the need for urgency. Republicans who want it just as bad — if not a little bit more — than their Democrat opponents.
We need more than campaign conservatives. We need conservatives not just on the campaign trail, but in office.
We don’t need speeches, we need action. Now. Now is the time for a new approach from Republicans.
No more playing it safe. It’s time to go for it.
This is an excellent editorial – right on track – and I agree 100%
Excellent. Looking for candidates that will really be conservative. Enough talk.