2018 was a mixed year for conservatives. While the midterm elections saw many strong conservatives defeated in the House of Representatives, Republicans bolstered their majority in the Senate. The Trump administration accomplished much to be pleased with, including new laws to reform our criminal justice system and the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice.
Looking ahead to what is sure to be a contentious 2019, conservatives should make some New Year’s resolutions. Here are four that I’d recommend conservatives keep.
House Democrats will have subpoena power to investigate every department and agency within the Trump administration, and the Left has made impeaching President Trump one of its top agenda items. Conservatives must resolve to stand strong against the Democrats’ assaults on the Trump administration.
But that’s not enough. As the Democrats pin their 2020 hopes on impeachment, congressional Republicans must listen to the voters, who are exhausted by all the impeachment talk, and communicate to them that they are at least trying to legislatively address their concerns on important issues such as healthcare, immigration, and infrastructure.
Second, “Never Trump” Republicans who are considering a third-party or primary challenge to Trump should resolve to resist that temptation. Some will no doubt cite Ronald Reagan’s challenge of sitting president Gerald Ford in 1976 as precedent. But unlike Ford, who became president after Richard Nixon resigned, Trump is the duly elected president. What’s more, he enjoys record-high support among Republicans. The most likely outcome of such a challenge is a win for the Democrats, which is the last thing any Republican should want.
Third, conservatives must resist the temptation to disengage from politics. The political environment can get toxic, often because the media have become expert at manufacturing outrage and appealing to the lesser angels of our nature. But America can thrive only if good people resolve to stay engaged in the political process, especially conservatives who value faith, family, and freedom.
My fourth proposed resolution is the most important because it goes beyond politics to the way we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives. The New Year is an appropriate time to remember that as important as politics is, the most important things in life don’t happen on the House or Senate floor or in the Oval Office or a TV studio but in own homes, schools, churches, and communities.
Washington cannot tell us how many children were hugged today or how many husbands and wives said, “I love you.” It cannot tell us who did a fine job at work, who surmounted a difficult personal obstacle, or who performed a good deed today. It cannot tell us how many families will pray over their evening meals or get down on their knees before God and ask for forgiveness and strength tonight.
And yet without these things this nation would surely fall. These are the things that make America what it is. These are the things we must resolve to fight to preserve.
For most Americans, life isn’t about executive orders, congressional legislation, agency regulations, or judicial nominations. It’s about a helping hand and good neighbors. It’s about bedtime prayers and lovingly packed lunch boxes. It’s about hard work and a little something put away for the future. No government commands these things. No government can replicate them. They are done naturally, freely, out of love, concern, and commitment.
So let us resolve to stand for those things, to believe in those things. Insist that the politicians who ask for our votes defend those things without shame or embarrassment. Let’s teach our children these things. Inspire them to love what we love and to honor what we honor.
As we prepare for what will no doubt be a challenging year in politics, let’s resolve to do all of these things. If we do, this great experiment in liberty will survive, and we will once again be a shining city upon a hill.
Gary Bauer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is president of American Values and chairman of Campaign for Working Families. He ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000.
