Just like in 2020, Conservatives had:
This time, Conservatives also had a good ground game, poll watchers, and attorneys at the ready. So why did so many Conservatives perform so poorly? Or maybe, why did so many Democrats overperform?
There doesn’t seem to be widespread reports of cheating, so what happened? Is it as simple as overwhelming Democrat early voting?
Like you, I got angry and frustrated by the lies Biden has told about MAGA and Trump supporters. I want to respond, but how do you respond when you are up against the President, the DOJ, the FBI, the liberal media, and big tech? Say or do the wrong thing and it will be used to try to confirm their lies, possibly hurting our cause instead of helping it.
What I would like to suggest is a grassroots, national day of action – The MAGA October Surprise! An honest display of just who Conservatives are and what we stand for.
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Inflation, high food and gas prices, shortage of fertilizer, drought, even the bird flu, etc. have caused food prices to skyrocket, and this problem isn’t going away any time soon. Food banks are already running low and the holidays are rapidly approaching.
As Conservatives, we believe in helping our families, our friends, and our communities, or really anyone in need. We believe problems are better solved at the local level than in Washington, DC. We don’t want to see anyone go hungry because of the incompetence of the federal government. We can make things a little better and we might even show a few on-the-fence voters that we are the good guys.
On Saturday, October 22 (or any date of your choosing), let’s hold food drives all around the country. Do it as an individual or with your family, do it with your church or business, or ask some friends to help. Big or small, it makes no difference. The point is just to share a little of what you have with someone who needs it. Hold a Trump rally or a boat rally. If you are near Florida, maybe you can hold a food drive for Florida.
Contact local radio, TV, and newspapers. Promote on social media. Put up signs. Use Twitter and GETTR to spread the word.
I rarely read Breitbart anymore because the racists, bigots, and homophobes have taken over the comment section. What makes it worse is Breitbart management apparently doesn’t care and at this point, just wants clicks. What a downfall for the terrific site Andrew created.
The same is happening at the Gateway Pundit (GP). Jim Hoft, the Founder and Editor of the Gateway Pundit, is gay, something he neither hides nor broadcasts. He’s just a Conservative guy who created a fantastic website that has taken over the role Breitbart once played. Now I see the same thing happening in the comments at GP as started on Breitbart a few years ago. There was always some of this on GP, but recently it has gotten totally out of control.
I assume some of this is being done by far-left activists who post inflammatory comments on Conservative sites, but from the number of these comments, there is more to this. Caitlyn Jenner being on Hannity last night is what kicked off the comments today, Hannity played this ad. If you ignore that Bruce is now Caitlyn, this is a phenomenal ad and has just the right tone Conservatives should have. It is a model ad for Conservatism.
As a teenager growing up in a small town, I only knew of 1 homosexual man and he was kind of creepy. There were rumors of an older black kid having both male and female sex organs. He looked like a boy but everyone called “him” Sis. When was a little older, I learned one of my former classmates had come out as gay, and in college, I knew both boys and girls that were homosexuals.
When I started working I met more gay people. Some announced they were gay at every opportunity that came up and others never said a word about it in public. Some acted “gay” and some didn’t. It was still very confusing to me, but I couldn’t believe many people would become homosexual by choice. It is hard enough to be part of the huge majority of heterosexuals, so why would a person choose to become gay? I think very few do.
If people don’t choose to be gay, then why are they gay? I’m not an expert and am not trying to pretend to be one, but the obvious reasons are either genetics or environment or possibly a combination. There have always been homosexuals in human communities and in animal communities. When I thought about how scary it must be to a 12 or 13-year-old to discover that they have sexual feelings toward kids of their own sex, I knew my attitude toward homosexuals needed to change, and it has.
I AM a CONSERVATIVE WHO BELIEVES in INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, and EQUALITY UNDER GOD and UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.
When it comes to transgender, I am getting there, but it is challenging. I can accept that a small percentage of the population has a gender identity that is different than that assigned to them at birth. How this should be handled is far beyond my level of knowledge or understanding.
Bruce Jenner was at one time the greatest male athlete in the world. Why would he come out as transgender at the age of 65? I think this is something most of us will never understand and I don’t think we have to. What we do need to do is respect the individual, respect their individual rights and freedoms, and know that they equal in the eyes of God and under our Constitution.
At Gateway Pundit I saw several comments that said Caitlyn Jenner can’t be a Conservative, that Conservatism rejects homosexuality and transgenderism. Many comments were much more vicious than these. I suggested these people do a little research and discover what Conservatism actually is.
The tenets of Conservatism from the Reagan.com website:
The tenets of Conservatism from Russell Kirk:
I could continue listing the tenets of Conservatism as espoused by current and former leaders in Conservative thought and not one would include being a racist, a homophobe, a bigot, or treating anyone as a lesser person. What the Conservatives have stood for in the past was both individual liberty and civil liberty. Somehow, we have lost our way and allowed the Democrats to lay claim to being the champion of civil liberties when history shows it was the Republicans who most often championed civil liberties, and we need to do so again.
And before someone says I am saying that we need quotas and preferential treatment, I am not saying that and am opposed to it. What I am for is ensuring that every American citizen has an equal opportunity and is equal under the law.
I have been researching whether conservatism is a philosophy or an ideology and came across a speech by Jordan Peterson that he presented in Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada in 2017. Peterson suggests that “conservatism be presented as a manifesto of fundamental values instead of “Thou Shall Not” statements”. Dr. Peterson presents a philosophical view of conservatism rather than the dogma that typically is espoused.
The main benefit I see is these tenets provide us with a positive way to talk about conservatism. Instead of it seeming to younger adults that liberals are for things and conservatives are against things, these tenets of conservatism give us a way to explain conservatism as a positive philosophy based on real-life experiences over hundreds of years.
These are the 12 tenets of conservatism discussed in the presentation:
The one thing I would add to his 12 tenets is this one from Russell Kirk:
I think reconciling change is the biggest weakness of the Republican Party. They are always in reactive mode to the Democrats wanting to change things. We should be changing things that need to be changed, but using a conservative philosophy. We have to be on offense as much as we are on defense.
Are there any tenets you think need to be added?
What Is Populism – Modern US Populism?
Populism has many definitions, but the one that most closely defines current US populism is the “common man” versus the “Elites”. The “common man” or the “people” are defined by class, ethnicity, nationality, or economic status. But “common man” goes even deeper than that. It is the individual and that individual’s Constitutional rights that are part of who we are as Americans.
The “elite” can include political, economic, media, and cultural leaders, the intelligentsia, and government. Any group that exerts an unfair force against the individual or the people could be considered the elite.
Example: Suppose that several large companies who offer a utility-like service start banning people based on their political beliefs. That might start a popular movement by the people who were banned against the large companies. If the government took the side of the companies, then this would likely start a populist movement that would affect the next election.
This quote about President Andrew Jackson provides a good description of a conservative populist. It also explains why President Trump had a portrait of Jackson in the Oval Office and why Biden had it removed.
Andrew Jackson helped shape a political philosophy that has rippled through the American political firmament for nearly 200 years. Call it conservative populism—an aversion to bigness in all of its forms, including big government, and a faith in the capacity of ordinary folks to understand and to act upon their own interests. Conservative populism includes a natural aversion to entrenched elites, who always fight back against conservative populists whenever they challenge elite power. Republicans of today who tout the leadership of the last great GOP president, Ronald Reagan, should know they are touting the 20th century’s greatest exponent of Jackson-style populist politics. source
Anything that stresses the relationship between the people and the leaders can result in the creation of a populist movement. In the US, it is usually a result of an economic imbalance between the working class and large corporations resulting from the federal government favoring the corporations. We see this going on now with the Covid-19 lock-downs causing many small businesses to go out of business while big businesses like Amazon and Walmart make record profits. The government is acting in an unfair manner, favoring one set of businesses over another. In some states, there is the additional problem of treating churches more restrictively than other comparable entities.
Populism is often an attempt to correct the economic inequalities resulting from corporations pursuing profits over social responsibility. In the US, populism serves as a safety valve for capitalism, trying to correct the imbalance caused when the government favors big business over the people.
By law, corporations are organized to create profit for stockholders, not to share the profit with workers or to keep manufacturing plants in the US.
The leading statement of the law’s view on corporate social responsibility goes back to Dodge v. Ford Motor Co, a 1919 decision that held that “a business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders.” source
It is up to government to provide the right level of regulation that allows business to be conducted as freely as possible, while at the same time ensuring that the workers are not being taken unfair advantage of. This imbalance has played out over and over again in the US. Often the Democrats will gain power and over-regulate and then the Republicans will gain power and under-regulate. But each has it’s favorites, and these favorites will often receive favorable tax and regulatory policies, creating an unfair competitive environment.
While economics is the primary cause of populism, there is often a cultural component. Here are 2 earlier examples of US populism. The primary causes are economic, but there are secondary cultural causes.
| Name | Date | Ecomic | Cultural |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Populist Party |
1892-1908 |
Ban on Foreign Land Ownership, State Control of Railroads, Shortened Work Days, Anti-Corruption |
Temperance |
|
Ronald Reagan |
1981-1989 |
Reduce Regulations, Limit Federal Power, Tax Cuts |
Individual Rights, Public Morality, War on Drugs |
Types of Populism
Populism is not considered to be an ideology, but is paired with an ideology such as nationalism, socialism, communism, conservatism, liberalism, constitutionalism, or fascism. Often times it is referred to as left-wing or right-wing populism, but that does not provide a clear description of the movement.
A populist movement is usually led by a charismatic leader such as Ross Perot (United We Stand), Sarah Palin (Associated with The Tea Party), Bernie Sanders (Democrat Socialist), and Donald Trump (MAGA). Trump was the only recent populist to become President. Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party didn’t have an identified leader, although Sarah Palin became one of the Tea Party’s leading spokespeople.
Let’s look at each of these movements.
Ross Perot 1992 – Balanced budget, economic nationalism, war on drugs, POW/MIA issue, increased tax on wealthy, trade issues. Populist/Economic/Nationalist
Tea Party (2000s) – Small government, lower taxes, fiscal discipline, lower national debt, balanced budget. Sarah Palin best known person associated with the Tea Party. Primarily Republican. Populist/Economic/Conservative
Occupy Wall Street (2011) – Anti-corporate, bank reform, economic reform, forgiveness of student loans, income disparity, We Are the 99%. Primarily Democrat. Populist/Economic/Socialist
Bernie Sanders (2016, 2020) – Democrat Socialist. Economic inequity, single-payer healthcare, $15 minimum wage, free public college tuition, paid parental leave. Populist/Economic/Socialist
Donald Trump (2016, 2020) – Republican. Renegotiate trade agreements, America First, bring jobs back to US, stop illegal immigration (Build the Wall), reduce legal immigration, reduce regulations, non-interventionist foreign policy. Populist/Economic/Nationalist/Conservative
Summary
Populism is the people versus the elites. It occurs when the people believe that they are being treated unfairly by the people in power and they seek to correct this imbalance, often through a Presidential election. Almost always, the imbalance is an economic one, although there may also be cultural issues such as discrimination, free speech, gun rights, and abortion.
Populism is not an ideology, so it takes the form of an ideology such as conservatism, liberalism, fascism, socialism, communism, economics, and nationalism. A populist movement is usually led by a charismatic personality.
Opinion: I have noticed while doing research for this article, that the left will view, for example, tax cuts as a cultural issue because they see it as hurting the poor and the working class, while the right will see it as an economic issue raising everyone’s standard of living. Another example is the southern border wall. The right sees this as a security issue and the left sees it as discrimination against people of color. Where it becomes dangerous is when one side takes a position and the other side unfairly labels it using inflammatory language. The elites will echo this language as a way to discredit and destroy the populist movement. Both sides have been guilty of this.
