Conservatism for the People

Conservatism for the People

HENRY OLSEN

In some key respects, American politics has exhibited remarkable continuity for more than two centuries. Parties, issues, and coalitions have come and gone, yet certain basic American political values and aims have remained constant.

Among the most important of these has been the willingness to use government power to help individuals advance in life. Every dominant national political coalition since at least the Civil War has had this idea at its heart. These winning coalitions promoted neither paternalism nor libertarianism. Instead, they gave voice to a uniquely American outlook that emphasizes personal freedom and self-reliance while leaving room for the use of collective, democratic self-government to promote those virtues.

As a result, virtually every important national campaign has revolved around one central question: How can we best give average people respect, dignity, and an opportunity to make their way in the world, tyrannized neither by government nor by private individuals?

That was the question over which the 2012 election was fought. President Obama and the Democrats advanced one answer; Governor Romney and the Republicans advanced another. Both sides understood that this election would begin to settle whose approach would govern America for years to come.

Republicans, and especially conservatives, would like to dismiss their defeat as an aberration. They proffer many excuses: Governor Romney was a bad candidate who ran a bad campaign; President Obama's technology-driven ground game made the difference; Hurricane Sandy stopped Romney's momentum at the worst possible time. None of these explanations is without merit, but all miss the major point of the election results: The president made the campaign into a choice between two clear visions of America, and Americans preferred his vision to the Republicans'.

The Republican denial of this simple truth stands squarely in the way of their pursuit of the presidency. Republican renewal can start only when the party understands that it lost because its vision has slowly drifted away from the concerns of most Americans. By abandoning the American people's foremost political priority, the GOP places its continued national relevance at risk.