Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in CT
it was a great article. I don't disagree that conservative principles are what the country needs. I just don't think pure conservatives can get elected everywhere, and where they can't, I'll take a moderate Republican over Nancy Pelosi. But we need to do a better job of getting the message out, I agree. I think 2014 will be a good year for us.
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Aren't you suspicious of someone's motives when he uses a word which means good or best as a pejorative? Let us not be "pure." You will not be electable if you are pure. Really? Have we become so jaded as a species that we demand the best and purest quality we can get in all the trifling commodities we consume or use for the precious money we have to spend to get them, but want some taint in those we choose to represent and rule us rather than demanding the best and least corrupt, the "purest" representatives in terms of their values and promises?
Not even the most "conservative" politicians are totally "pure." As the article points out, even Cruz and Sessions cast occasional votes that don't meet some perfect standard. But their standards are high compared to "moderate" Republicans. What needs to be pure is the message. "Getting the message out" is no good if it is muddled.
What makes the conservative message pure is its foundation--its principles. If those are compromised, the message is corrupted. Then it becomes politics. Winning. And the pyrrhic victory of having to rule against those principles. Therefore losing them.
If the message is only about the "economy" and what we can do for you better than the other guys, it becomes a popularity contest full of deceitful promises and hateful aspersions. An appeal to the lowest political instincts. A message which tells the people that they are weak, needy, and base in character, and that you are no better so you are more able to relate to their needs and know best how to provide, not like some pie in the sky holier than thou purist who demands more of you than you can give, and can only give you vague promises of "liberty" and stuff that doesn't feed the belly. Oh, sure, you can dress it up, like Palin's lipstick on a pig metaphor, and convince everyone to accept the far less than "pure" arrangement of society because of inherited conditions left by previous regimes. But if you must compromise principles to get elected by putting makeup on the face of your message, how do you wipe it off if you "win"? If mud gets you there, won't the mud keep you mired in order to remain and win again?
I don't accept that picture of the People. I think most want to be inspired. I think most want to feel good and noble, not like pigs at the trough. And I think the true and "pure" conservative message would connect with the better angels of humanity.
I think there is a message beyond the "economy" and which is inspirational to the soul (dare I say that word) of the American People.
Do you?