No One is Conservative Enough (?)

CPAC Convention

No one is conservative enough it seems, these days.


There are too many issues which divide people these days.

Take Glenn Beck. Impeccable credentials, right? He also brought soccer balls to the illegal immigrant youths earlier this year, followed by signals that he was looking for a gig with CNN.

What's going on?

Then there's New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He was bold and provocative, not afraid to stand his ground against government spending and union bullying. Yet the last two years, he has compromised on immigration and spending. He also signed into a law which would put a pastor in jail if he wanted to help a minor leave homosexual conduct.

Chris Christie is friendly with Democrats, too.

What?!

Ted Cruz is conservative, and even taunted some of his Senate peers that if they voted for cloture during the 2013 shutdown shootout, they were voting to support Obamacare. The most conservative US Senator in the caucus, Tom Coburn, rejected Cruz' strategy: "I guess I'm a RINO now," he commented derisively.

Disagreements on tactics and values have fomented this argument of "not conservative enough."

Too many issues split people up.

Five years ago, politicians were not voting on laws whether students with gender identity disorders would be permitted to go into public school bathrooms.

Five years ago, gay marriage was an aberration, a marginal argument from leftists who were interested in breaking down marriage entirely rather than promoting the civil rights of a persecuted group of people.

Five years ago, we did not have to deal with Obamacare.

Five years ago, there were many point of contention which did not exist.

Now, anyone who budges or argues differently on one issue (decriminalization of controlled substances, right-to-work legislation, forcing the minimum wage, school choice) gets labeled RINO or lib-tard, or some other offensive presentiment.

The views on abortion or widespread as well, even though the biological fact that life begins at conception cannot be disputed.

Views on marriage are dividing Republicans and Democrats, too. Yes, even Democrats are split on this issue. Rhode Island boasts the largest Democratic delegation, and yet the state senate President Paiva-Weed opposed gay marriage, while the five Republicans in the state senate supported the change.

Dinesh D'Souza is conservative - no one would argue
(What does that mean, though?)

This disruption in clear ideological differences has created more confusion for Independents and frustration for Republicans and conservatives trying to regain a two-party balance in Providence. There are a number of pro-life Democrats, too, who feel marginalized in their party.

Yet the issue comes back to this: no one is conservative enough, and this unspoken litmus is dividing political influence rather than channeling it properly.

No one is conservative enough. So where does a voter draw the line? On what issues can we agree to disagree without distancing ourselves or discouraging our chances for real cultural prosperity?

Perhaps defining conservative effectively can ease the frustration on this issue.

A respect for life, natural law, the limits of government, and economic freedom are essential. Yet too many statewide Republican candidates seem to be running from these issues rather than standing on them.

No wonder the litmus tests abound.

So, no one is conservative enough simply because the definition of conservative has not been conserved. . .