Last night I spent a few hours in Manhattan with some young conservatives. That’s a bit different for me, as most of my friends in the city are somewhere to the left of President Obama. Anyway, there I was–sitting in a cafe, sipping my favorite organic green smoothie, and talking about the future of conservatism.
When I left, I couldn’t help but be bothered by something. The 20-somethings I had just spent a few hours with were different than they had been the last time we talked.
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You see, I had met those same young conservatives in 2008 right before the presidential election. I remember that they had been bubbling over with excitement, passion, and energy for the cause. I remember that they couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stop planning ways to impact academia and culture. They had never been terribly political before that, and had never really fancied politicians, but something had come along that inspired them.
As it turns out, someone had changed the way they looked at things.
Ideas are powerful. Principles propel us through life. But leaders are important. I’ve never been the type of person to put too much faith in any one individual. After all, we all make mistakes. We all have the potential to disappoint the people we care about. We all get lost in ourselves sometimes and forget the big picture. But when I look back at my life, there are people who really made a difference to me–the first teacher who really made me think, the first friend I could trust, a leader who proved she could be counted on.
