Should Conservatives Soften Their Views?

In the wake of the Republican defeat this week, the second guessing has begun as expected.  Not only is the Romney strategy being dissected and criticized, there are voices saying the Republicans need to change their principles to fall more in line with contemporary society or abandon social conservatism altogether.  

I would argue that the conservative message is basically a good one, but we've done a poor job of selling our principles. I understand the anger and frustration of many conservatives, as I feel that way too. However, I also believe we must soften our tone, not the principles themselves. We must try to win hearts and minds and that cannot be done by yelling at people or bashing them over the head, figuratively speaking, of course.  

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed and turned off by some of the conservative talk show hosts also.  I am a regular listener of Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh, among others, and the strident, angry tone, particularly of Ingraham, is a turn-off to me, a conservative.  I'm certain she changes no minds among those who call themselves "moderate".  She likes to cite Ronald Reagan, but he had the knack of communicating firmly and clearly without ever sounding harsh.  

We have a different country today than in the day of Reagan.  I believe it's more secularized and I'm not convinced that it's still "right of center".  It's clear we need to reach out to blacks, Hispanics and Asians more effectively if we're to win elections in the future.  

People tend to vote for whatever they perceive to be in their own best interests.  Thus, it is imperative that we demonstrate in a clear, concise manner how conservative policies can help people become more financially stable, secure and independent.   I think that would resonate with a majority of people, because government dependency puts one in a vulnerable position and keeps people poor.   

The Mean Season

With the election nearing, the political ads and rhetoric are often over the top.  In a recent debate, Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas accused her Republican opponent, John Boozman, of having voted in Congress to allow a father who had raped his daughter to sue the doctor who performed an abortion on the daughter he had raped.  The only problem is that Mr. Boozman had no idea what she was talking about and when challenged, she couldn't back up her ugly accusation. 

The ad by Florida Democratic representative Alan Grayson is one of the most shameful, despicable things I've ever seen a politician do.  This is the ad that takes a quotation from his opponent, Daniel Webster, completely out of context, which makes it seem totally different from the original quotation in its entirety. He then compares Mr. Webster to the  Taliban!  No, nothing over the top about that.  Mr. Grayson should be ashamed, but he seems to have no sense of shame at all and I can't imagine why anyone would consider voting for someone so devoid of character. 

The Democrats can't really run on their legislative "accomplishments".  They managed to pass a lot of new laws, but the only problem is that the majority of Americans didn't want those laws.  They now can do nothing but resort to name-calling and outright lies to divert attention from the damage they're doing to the economy and the country as a whole. 

The Head Crybaby

Will the time ever come when  Obama quits blaming the previous administration for everything?  President Obama did, as he reminds us over and over, inherit a deficit.  But he has taken that deficit and put it on steroids, with no end in sight to the reckless spending.

Enough!!  I for one am sick and tired of watching this president bob and weave, avoiding responsibility for anything and everything and maneuvering so as not to leave his fingerprints anywhere.  I thought I was "unshockable", but I've found that's not correct.  The baldfaced lies emanating from this administration have laid that misconception to rest.

This administration has made it clear that it has no regard for the will of most Americans.  Indeed, it seems they even have contempt for us.  Let's hope and pray that in the elections of 2010 voters will send an unmistakably clear message to Congress:  you're history!