Many conservative voices have asked recently whether the Republican Party has any capability of representing conservative values.
After all, Republicans have controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress for the past five years, yet we have seen discretionary spending go through the roof, an explosion of earmarks, a curious lack of the veto, and a belated and misguided effort at border control that hearkens back to the failed Simpson-Mazzoli amnesty bill of 1986.
Under these circumstances, conservatives may wonder with some justification whether a continued association with the GOP unfairly tarnishes true conservative values.
Some counsel conservatives to create a third political party that would offer more purity on ideology. The two models often mentioned are the Bull Moose party, founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, and Ross Perot’s Reform movement 80 years later.
Instead of being examples of success, these should serve as warnings to third-party enthusiasts. Both attracted large numbers of voters, but neither of them translated into Electoral College support, and both efforts resulted in the election of Democrats to the White House despite the existence of center-right electorates.
Others urge conservatives to withdraw from electoral politics altogether, at least for the midterm elections and possibly for the presidential race in 2008. This has captured the imagination of many, especially in the blogosphere, and is as dangerous as schism — and perhaps even more damaging to long-term conservative interests.
We have no particular requirement to keep our voices silent when any of our elected representatives enact bad policy or fail to act in what we see as the best interests of the nation. In fact, we have a duty to do so, but most of all, to do so effectively. That requires us to stay engaged in the electoral process, to ensure that our views and policies get the attention that comes from positive effort. We have to stay engaged in the process to receive the credibility we demand. Taking our ball and going home only paints us as unreliable, dictatorial people who can never engage — and win — in the negotiations that policy implementation requires.
Instead of staying home, we need to get more involved. If your representative or senator votes for pork, bigger government, and ignores border security, look for a credible primary challenger to represent conservative values instead. Organize and speak out on behalf of candidates and politicians who do the right thing, even if they don’t represent your district or state.
Most of all, do not donate to political drives controlled by leadership that no longer acts responsively. That means withholding contributions from the Republican Senate and Congressional re-election committees and redirecting your contributions to individual races instead. Those committees serve to enhance leadership control over the caucuses, and contributing to them only reinforces the current direction of the policies we have seen for the past five years. When congressional and senatorial leadership starts promoting smaller government and works to eliminate pork, then by all means support them once again.
However, we still have to vote in November. If our preferred candidate does not win in the primaries, we still have to act responsibly and choose between the two major party candidates in the general election. Not only will abdication result in a loss of control over our own representation, the failure of GOP candidates has national implications that will wind up hamstringing the politicians that really have worked on our behalf, the TomCoburns, the John Kyls, the Jon Cornyns, and the George Allens. And by sitting on our hands, we will have proven too inflexible to be dependable, which will only encourage Republican candidates to reach out to the center-left more than ever before.
If we want to convince people to trust us with leadership, we have to show that we can work within coalitions and provide mature and responsible partnership, even with those with whom we will sometimes disagree. If we cannot prove ourselves trustworthy, our movement will never maintain the strength to implement policy.
Ed Morrissey is proprietor of Captain’s Quarters blog and a founding member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors.
