We on the right must learn how to form coalitions.
Why do conservative people have trouble forming coalitions? Why do we have all or nothing approaches to politics. “If the party does not adopt every last one of my beliefs, I am going to stay home on Election Day” (sounds like “I am going to take my ball and go home,” doesn’t it?).
The Democrats (socialist, progressives, or whatever you want to call them) have ruled successfully for 80 years based on the formation of coalitions between very unlikely partners.
The current left wing coalition is made up of unionists, feminists, immigration rights advocates, government workers, gay rights advocates, trial lawyers, environmentalists, minorities demanding reparations, people on the dole, abortion rights advocates, bleeding heart liberals, true socialists, etc.
These people don’t come close to agreeing on everything. Many of them hate each other’s guts. But they come together to support large, intrusive, big spending government — because they benefit from it. As long as they get their payout, they don’t care if someone else gets a place at the trough as well.
Those of us on the right need to be able to come together over our core financial and constitutional beliefs. Small, constitutionally constrained government, fiscal responsibility, a reduction in entitlements, etc., are widely accepted among all types of conservatives.
Other issues, the divisive ones, should be taken out of national level politics and dealt with at the state or local level. School prayer, abortion, gay marriage, environmental issues, etc., are the ones that divide us every election and cause us to lose national level offices to the Democrats.
So let’s come together as fiscal conservatives on the national level to take the federal government back and really reform it to reflect the absolute literal meaning of the Constitution.
Once we have a coalition based solely on constitutionally limited government and fiscal sanity, then we can reach out to other groups that have been alienated by socially conservative issues in the past.
There are gays who favor fiscal conservatism, as well as feminists, minorities, and especially young people (the real victims of runaway deficits) who would benefit from balanced budgets and limited government as well. A wide coalition of people can all come together on the money issues.
Then we can fight it out at the state or local level over the social issues that have kept us apart in the past. Social issues should be decided at the local level anyway. Why should the people of Georgia have a say in whether gays can get married in California or Californians a say on our local policy?
We are running out of time to start turning this sinking Titanic of a country around. We must secure the blessings of liberty and capitalism from the looters and moochers who would force the evil and unworkable dream of socialism upon us all. If we can stop dividing, they can no longer conquer us at the polls.
Bill Gilmer
Fayetteville, Ga.
