Going forward, I think that conservatives (and the GOP, assuming it remains the home of conservatives) should stress a message straight out of Douthat & Salam's Grand New Party, but I think the overarching theme should be as follows:
1. Efficient, Effective, and Ethical Government
Unfortunately for many libertarian-conservatives, the “government is the problem” message does not sell right now to many working class Americans, who have become the bedrock of our party. Because of the economic morass (yes, I know the CRA and the Fed are mostly to blame, but that's not the impression the man on the street has), these voters seek stability and security. Instead, conservatives should focus on grooming candidates and assisting incumbents in crafting a message of efficient, effective government, much like Gov. Mitch Daniels has done here in Indiana. Privatization of certain aspects (the Indiana Toll Road is now run under contract by a private firm) is fine, but there are certain things (e.g. disaster recovery) that voters expect government to do well.
The bedrock voters of our coalition will also expect elected officials to be thrifty (we were not when in charge of Congress and the White House) and honest (Abramoff?), just as they are with their own finances. Without a doubt, politics is never an unmessy game, but we have to stress to our incumbents and candidates that a lack of ethics will cost them at the ballot box. If they lack a moral compass, then at least self-interest should do the trick.
While defense hawks will hate to hear this, I also would advocate a move away from a Wilsonian-Roosveltian-Trumanesque-Bushesque foreign policy to one more in line with the thinking of the late Sen. Robert Taft from Ohio and Pres. John Quincy Adams: America “goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.” Dovetailing with an earlier point on thrift, wars are also expensive, and – as the Iraq War has shows – are usually way more expensive than the government believes they will be. Moreover, while our core voters are immensely patriotic, the voters on the fringe of our voting coalition (which we need to win elections) simply do not have the stomach for combat that drags on more than one election cycle. Finally, there is no question that the Iraq war energized our ideological opponents.
2. Strong Families
Again, our core constituency values children and domestic life; they are the counterpoise to the bohemian-loving persons depicted in the musical Rent, the television show Friends, and the residents of urbane America. It is indeed telling the San Francisco has more pets than it does children. We must ensure that our candidates and incumbents stress their support for family life.
On social issues, our incumbents must support the right to life and greater strictures on abortion; our strongest footsoldiers (myself included) will “check out” if conservatives do not fight for the unborn. The partial-birth abortion ban model is a perfect model: go after procedures that even many moderates will agree with. A key example is a requirement that a woman be given an ultrasound before agreeing to an abortion; this issue can be couched in terms of “providing women with all requisite information” before she makes a decision. In reality, it also increases the costs of abortion providers as well.
I certainly also think that a wage subsidy for intact families – as advocated by Douthat – is a good idea. Pres. Reagan’s Earned Income Tax Credit – for the first time since LBJ’s programs – actually rewarded work. A wage subsidy for working class families that rewards a husband and wife’s faithfulness will certainly be welcome by our core constituency. Indeed, such was the goal of the maternalists during FDR’s New Deal: to strengthen family life.
3. Job Creation
Finally, our candidates and incumbents must be focused on job creation. Our core constituency is not indolent; it wants to work. Our candidates should be attempting to make arrangements such as job-sharing and telecommuting easier. Moreover, they should be focusing on infrastructure: do we need things like an inter-urban railway to obtain access to good jobs for our working class families? The goal is not so much to make government the driving engine of job creation but instead an agent to smooth the pathway that our core constituency needs to access good jobs.
Education reform is essential to prepare our kids for the future. While vouchers are an excellent idea, our core constituency seems concerned that they will de-fund the good public schools in their communities. Instead, why not encourage the formation of charter schools in every school district? The charters simply don’t have the red tape that the standard school has to deal with; this allows for more innovation.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention energy independence: E85, geothermal, solar, and nuclear power can wean us off foreign petroleum, which will allow us to disentangle ourselves from the Middle East. The industries will also employ many of our core voters. Moreover, the energy industry can provide a potent environment retort to the environmentalist Left; while the liberals talk about global warming and legislating, our candidates and incumbents can be seen as actually doing something for the environment and the country.
Many libertarian conservatives will object to some of these ideas and argue that they are merely distillations of Huckabee-style Christian democracy. I welcome their criticism and hope to apply it usefully. Others will argue that in advocating such government intervention, the very idea of conservatism is debased. When I use the term “conservative,” however, I am not using it in an economic way per se. By “conservative” I mean that I wish to conserve the important values of our core voters, that being the enjoyment of domestic life and a great work ethic. I care very little about the values and enjoyment of the neo-bohemians in New York, LA, Chicago, or Miami. I care a lot about the values and joy experienced by the voters of Bargersville (Indiana), Delta Township (Michigan), and Greenville (SC).
