Republicans need a return to conservatism 
November 20, 2008 by Matthew Jarzen
Right-wing leaders are never elected for appealing to liberals
After what could be considered a crushing defeat for Republicans (I know, you’re sick of hearing about it), many people are left asking, “What’s the future of the Republican Party?”
A few days after the election my friend commented, “We need a 21st century Republican Party.”
I was left wondering, what the hell does that mean? Though I never got the answer, I can make assumptions as to what it might be.
It would be the kind of Republican Party Michael Fauntroy wrote about in his blog on the Huffington Post. Basically, Fauntroy (though not a Republican himself) believes the Republican Party should behave like liberals.
According to Fauntroy, the Republican Party needs to stop being so conservative, embrace diversity and recapture the so-called moderates and independents. I’m sure David Brooks, the phony Republican at the New York Times, would agree.
But I have news for both of you, Mr. Fauntroy and Mr. Brooks – the future of the Republican Party lies with conservatism.
What Fauntroy failed to recognize was that the Republicans lost because they acted as he suggested. Sen. John McCain was a moderate who tried to attract other moderates and liberals by appealing to liberal values.
Congressman Chris Shays’ loss in New England was due to the fact that he is a moderate to liberal Republican. The fact is, people don’t vote Republican out of ignorance of what the Republican Party stands for. Republicans lose when they try to act like Democrats – attempting to expand the role of the government.
So the phony Republicans who decry that McCain was too conservative are completely wrong. They just don’t want to admit that McCain lost because he was exactly what they wanted a Republican to be – a bootleg Democrat.
Conservatives are fairly upset with President Bush’s second term for the same reason. Once re-elected, he tried to make Democrats like him by appealing to liberals. It doesn’t work. It didn’t work in 1996, it didn’t work in 2006 or 2008 and it will not work in the future.
Do you know what happens when you walk in the middle of the road? You get hit by a bus.
When Republicans win elections it is because they prove they are conservative. That’s what led to former president Ronald Reagan’s 49-state landside in 1984 and the Republican Revolution led by Newt Gingrich’s Conservative Contract with America in 1994.
Conservatism wins. The Republican Party needs to stand up for its principles. This would include support for the curbing of wasteful spending, strong national defense, border security and legal immigration, true energy independence, low taxes that benefit everyone and most importantly, a return to reliance on the Constitution.
As for attracting moderates and liberals, the Republican Party should not pander to those who are not conservative and should stand on principle alone. Reagan didn’t win the presidency and re-election because he attracted moderates and liberals. He won because he was a principled conservative who turned the electorate to the Right, not the other way around.
As for diversity, I suppose we are lacking in that area because Republicans don’t pander to ethnic groups in the manner that Democrats do. Unlike Democrats, who thrive on identity politics and the process of dividing people, Republicans should remember that conservatism can be applied to not just black Americans or white Americans or any other identity-based Americans, but all Americans.
All Americans can thrive on constitutionally limited government. They can also enjoy the rewards of self-reliance. All Americans can take more personal responsibility for their actions to become independent from (not dependent on) the government.
We can all stand behind a strong military and strong national defense as well as acknowledge and seek opportunity there for ourselves without government handouts. All Americans can benefit from having more money in their pockets due to low taxes.
Those are but a few examples of things all Americans can stand by. America has the potential to be a republican country whether Fauntroy wants to believe it or not.
I do agree with one argument made by my friend and Fauntroy – the Republican Party needs to rid itself of the phony Republicans and conservatives who’ve put the party in the position it’s in today. It’s time we start being intellectually honest with ourselves and picking candidates who stand on principle, not just the candidates who have the better chance at getting elected.
The Republican Party can return to its roots of personal responsibility and self-reliance. Republicans just have to have the guts to stand up for what is right.
I’ve found that it’s easier to tell someone that the government can provide everything for them than it is to ask them to look to themselves and their own talents to be successful.
Many times, it is difficult to do the right thing. But if Republicans want victory, they need to tell Americans the truth and not be afraid of conservatism.
Funny that the Republicans call the Hispanics names , Then want them to vote, WAKE UP, They are not follies as the republicans ASS_U_ME.
Without Immigration reform, the Republicans will never win .
“The Americans, like us in England, have a two-party system, They have the Republican party, which is like our Conservative party, and they have the Democratic party, which is like… our Conservative party.” – Dudley Moore
Dear Rebel Yell Editors,
What makes news, news?
I think we all ask ourselves this and come up with different variations. What may be news to one person is not to another.
We are all so blessed to attend UNLV because it’s a place where cultural diversity is celebrated. It’s a place of learning and coming together.
Because UNLV embraces all of its students, it has flourished and become a place where people of all races synergize in efforts to better themselves and society.
With so many minorities going to UNLV, I wonder why the News Department of the Rebel Yell can’t find more room for articles dealing with the subjects of race, class, and gender?
I believe that the Rebel Yell is a developing paper with so much potential, but I’m disappointed with the decision that these topics are not newsworthy.
Kind Regards,
Your Fellow Rebel Yell Reporter, Amara Collins
One thing you conservatives fail to remember is that you guys have your chance during every single primary, only to have your guys all get defeated by the moderates time and time again. It happened in 2006 when nearly all of the conservative candidates were wiped off of the map by moderates and it happened this year too, with the exception that the moderates are now dying for the sins of the neo-cons who ran Congress into the ground with debt, deregulation and social conservative goose hunts like Schivo, et. al. The reality is that the base of the republican party is not calling the shots anymore and if republicans are ever going to get back their power, they are going to have to appeal to moderate republicans and undecided voters rather than the die-hard conservative faithful.
To Funny, what does Republicans calling Hispanics names have to do anything?
To LJ, that quote does not make any sense. Oh never mind, you have no argument in the first place.
To Collins, if the Rebel Yell is trying to establish itself as a legitimate and serious newspaper, they would not run whiny, sensitive, touchy (like a liberal) articles such as race, gender, or class. 1. It would be boring, and 2. People could only be depressed for so long. Oh no wait, maybe it would happen because people like to be depressed and whiny all the time.
Journalists should always retain their professionalism and ethics which I have not seen in this newspaper, besides this article’s author.
To Thompson, We, Republicans, do not need to bend over backwards for anybody or anything, unlike your party.
The reason why we lost and hung ourselves this past election is due to the phony Republicans TRYING to appeal to the other side and to the moderates. We,Republicans, have lost our ways, and need to go back to the basic conservative principles like Reagan and Lincoln (That’s right liberals, he was a Republican and you are not going to take him away from us).
The only reason why P.E Obama won the seat is because he used empty rhetoric and a lots of pandering. Only liberals could get away with it, go figure. When Republicans tried to use those same tactics, it lost a lot of respect from within their own base. We already have one liberal party, we do not need another one.
In addition, Republicans don’t call other people names anyway, unlike Democrats. The only problem we have is the illegal immigrants jumping the border and demanding rights. This is for you liberals, the KEYWORD: ILLEGAL.
What’s with Amara? Why post that here? Did one of your articles get passed up? I don’t follow. I see articles all the time about race, gender, et al when it’s applicable to the news. (The graffiti kid in Reno that was killed, the “woman role / michelle obama” piece in this issue….) Stories about the republican party are equally diverse, especially considering that this paper was unabashed in its support for Obama.
What stories would you run? An editorial on the Ninth Island? Being black and broke in Vegas? What Prop 8 means to me by random gay or lesbian student?(they did that one)
I personally find this paper to be quite liberally slanted. I guess that’s not good enough for some…
But if you post it under the republican party opinion piece you’ll be sure to show how racist and ignorant conservatives are? Meh.
[...] Republicans need a return to conservatism : The Rebel Yell After what could be considered a crushing defeat for Republicans (I know, you’re sick of hearing about it), many people are left asking, “What’s the future of the Republican Party?” A few days after the election my friend commented, … [...]