Last night, John and I were invited to meet with a group of Conservative politicians and political wannabees at the High Noon Saloon in Leavenworth, Kansas. My first impression was of utter dismay. The only person there under 50 was Ned Ryun, son of ex-Congressman Jim Ryun (who was also present), and the president of a new non-partisan conservative group called the American Majority.
Ned has a great idea - to build Conservatism from the ground up - find people and train them to be effective candidates to run for local school boards, and city and county offices. Basically, to help to counter the Progressive initiatives that are doing the same to promote liberalism.
I think there are several huge challenges for this group in Kansas. The attendees, some of which are already on school boards or have been in state politics, were almost hopelessly ignorant about technology. Some of them were even just a wee bit on the whiny side, because they don't understand why there have to be all these different groups from the NRA to KFL. Damn, we conservatives have got to get out of our little bubbles and realize that there are liberal pro-life people and pro-gun people and conservative anti-life and anti-gun people. Conseratism is not a one-issue philosophy.
We need to define Conservatism ourselves, not allow the progressive definition of Conservatism as hopelessly out of date, unfriendly to minorities and women and afraid of change to be the accepted defnition in the world of politics.
And darn, we really need to teach people that Conseratism is a good thing for them, no matter who they are or what their circumstances.
So, dear readers - think of what you might be able to do to enlighten people politely about what Conservatism means. And think about running for office, or encouraging friends to run for office, and helping them.
Age is no excuse. I'm 55 and I have a Facebook account (which I hate because it is too slow), a MySpace page (which I also hate - there are only so many hours in the day), my blog, and a Twitter account - the most useful of the Social Networks because it is quick and easy. I'm no smarter than any of the other people there.
Ned has a great idea - to build Conservatism from the ground up - find people and train them to be effective candidates to run for local school boards, and city and county offices. Basically, to help to counter the Progressive initiatives that are doing the same to promote liberalism.
I think there are several huge challenges for this group in Kansas. The attendees, some of which are already on school boards or have been in state politics, were almost hopelessly ignorant about technology. Some of them were even just a wee bit on the whiny side, because they don't understand why there have to be all these different groups from the NRA to KFL. Damn, we conservatives have got to get out of our little bubbles and realize that there are liberal pro-life people and pro-gun people and conservative anti-life and anti-gun people. Conseratism is not a one-issue philosophy.
We need to define Conservatism ourselves, not allow the progressive definition of Conservatism as hopelessly out of date, unfriendly to minorities and women and afraid of change to be the accepted defnition in the world of politics.
And darn, we really need to teach people that Conseratism is a good thing for them, no matter who they are or what their circumstances.
So, dear readers - think of what you might be able to do to enlighten people politely about what Conservatism means. And think about running for office, or encouraging friends to run for office, and helping them.
Age is no excuse. I'm 55 and I have a Facebook account (which I hate because it is too slow), a MySpace page (which I also hate - there are only so many hours in the day), my blog, and a Twitter account - the most useful of the Social Networks because it is quick and easy. I'm no smarter than any of the other people there.
The only other conservatives I know are on the internet. I feel like we are a dying breed…
I lost my best friend of over 20 years because I’m conservative. I was conservative when I met her, but with the One it’s all different, don’t you know.
The liberals have raised a generation of other liberals by going into the schools and the colleges and teaching that it’s the right way to be, the right thing to do. How do we counter that?
University of Kansas has an excellent College Republicans group, or at least it did when I was there a few years ago. Sounds like that would be a good place to start.
These conversations are going on all over the country. I’m (barely) under 40, and can’t stand the fact that in Party meetings I’m frequently the youngest one in the room. Or the only woman. We have to harness our CR and YR groups and get them into leadership BEFORE they age out of their groups!
I’m also becoming social-media savvy, not because I like being online all the time, but because I see the value in it. So a couple of techy under-40 guys and I are planning training sessions to offer to Republican Women’s groups and precinct chairs and the like, while also trying to convince more politicians to get online.
I mean, it’s so cool that I can Twitter with my senator or a candidate for RNC chair.
Heck, I think it is cool that I can Twitter Karl Rove!
Maybe the way to start is to agree on one conservative principle.. how about fiscal conservatism.. maybe we can all agree that personal and government debt is not a good thing?
It seems that neo-conservatism has lost the appeal of many because it has become all about social conservatism. On the fiscal front you can hardly tell the difference between libs and cons.. they all sadly seem to think that credit is the answer to spending.
Maybe we need to get Dave Ramsey on the ticket :)
Kansas Bob - I have no problem with Social Conservatism, in fact, I am pretty sure the Republicans lost because they dumped on Social Conservatives.
How about we start with the Constitution? Fiscal policy can come after protecting our rights.