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Another Perspective
Refighting the Culture War
The election was a lost battle in a war conservatives are winning.
Back in 2003, social conservatives bragged they were no longer losing the culture war, which reminded me of the 1962 Mets bragging they were no longer winless. Thanks to Fox News, talk radio, the Internet, conservative book publishing, and the end of the independent bookstore monopoly, social conservatives were finally competing on a level playing field. “No longer do the New York Times, the big networks, and the rest of the elite liberal media have an all-but-monolithic power to set the terms of the nation’s political and cultural debate,” wrote the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Anderson.
Since the advent of this new media, attitudes have undergone a profound shift, in particular among the young and working class. Today on campus the old liberal establishment is seen as pushy, uptight and overly intrusive with its speech and behavior codes. Sanctimonious, pony-tailed professors who blame America for everything are preachy and passé. Gray-haired feminists repressed and somewhat pathetic. It is now the old hippies who are out of touch. Meanwhile students have become more reactionary. “The ‘under-30 generation’ is rebelling against rebellion itself,” wrote Holiday Dmitri in National Review. “…[S]tudents are sick of being spoon-fed leftist political ideology and having to adapt to pious political correctness….And let’s face it, it becomes cooler to break from the pack and revel as an outcast amongst the academic elites.”
What’s more, today’s youth are not as easily manipulated as their parents. Hipster overlord Gavin McInnes put it this way in the American Conservative: “Due to the overwhelming glut of information on the Internet and an unprecedented barrage of marketing…young people are more aware and more cynical than any generation that came before.” Today hip means being “anti-liberal,” and “anti-PC,” like the creators of South Park, who despise liberals more than conservatives. Indeed, every hipster I know preferred the Republican Ron Paul to our president-elect. (Don’t know what a hipster is? According to UrbanDictionary.com: One who “listens to bands that you have never heard of. Has hairstyle that can only be described as ‘complicated’… Definitely cooler than you… Complains.”)
THEN A FUNNY THING happened. Just as conservatism was gaining new recruits, the culture war settled into a kind of static, trench warfare. For the past five years all’s been quiet on the culture front while the battle took a back seat to the hot wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and George W. Bush’s general incompetence. Conservative culture warriors attempted a brief, half-hearted counter-attack with the Sarah Palin nomination, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the economic crisis.
This has led some to claim that today “the culture war no longer sells.” At least that’s how Peter Beinart put it in the Washington Post. ” The struggle that began in the 1960s — which put questions of racial, sexual and religious identity at the forefront of American politics — may be ending.” The final proof was Obama’s victory. And as for the Alaska governor, “She may be the last culture warrior on a national ticket for a very long time.” That’s not what liberal pundits were saying before the economic meltdown. “Culture matters,” Clarence Page wrote back in May. “Democrats have long been frustrated to see their party, historically the party of America’s working class, so often been rejected by the very working-class voters that its policies are intended to help.”
Indeed, on the very day Beinart was proclaiming the irrelevance of the culture war, California, Florida and Arizona voters were banning same-sex marriages, Arkansas voters were banning gay couples from being adoptive parents, and the GOP was printing millions of “Palin in 2012” bumper stickers. But while social conservatives could claim victories (of sorts) in California, Arizona, Florida and Arkansas, their program was defeated in South Dakota and Colorado, which voted to keep abortion legal, thus putting on hold the long awaited challenge to Roe v. Wade. It’s hard to generalize what these results say about the country other than Americans are frustratingly fickle and conflicted about their moral values, or, perhaps that save for his “bitter,” “religion” and “guns” slip-up in San Francisco, Obama effectively managed to conceal his disdain for the Great Unwashed.
Newt Gingrich is right that the election results were more a commentary on the GOP’s recent performance than an invalidation of conservative ideals. No Republican, not even an Abraham Lincoln, could have won this election. The good news is that the country continues to run away from the Left faster than a hillbilly from work.
Despite the dubious legacy of Bush and the Democratic landslide, no one denies there has been a noticeable shift right, in particular among the young and the working class. Obama won some of these voters this time around, but they are by no means lost for good.
About the Author
Christopher Orlet writes from St. Louis.
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Kevin| 11.13.08 @ 8:51AM
...California, [Florida and Arizona] voters were banning same-sex marriages...
Yes, by 52%. But last time it was voted on it was 65%, as proposition 22 in 2000, which is 6% swing in 8 years - not an insignificant shift leftwards.
Michael L. Hauschild| 11.13.08 @ 8:56AM
Look ahead, not back to set realistic priorities. Medical science will soon produce an over the counter "trimester after" pill taking the spatial significance of a clinic out of abortion. Inter gender "marriage" will remain a genetic dead end and the Gideon caterwauling will continue to produce no more than a stifled yawn among an increasingly secular electorate. If you want to win elections, focus, take care of the money and all the rest will take care of itself.
ruth| 11.13.08 @ 10:33AM
It would be nice if we actually stood for something, too. Conservative ideals are timeless.
Captain America| 11.13.08 @ 10:34AM
Conservative values are acutely needed now and will only become more pressing in the next four years. They are the bedrock of our nation.
LibertyLover| 11.13.08 @ 10:42AM
Are you kidding? Today's youth are extremely left-wing. They have experienced 40 years of liberal indoctrination and it shows. Again, ask any father after his 14 year daughter has been raped and impregnated how he really feels on the aboration issue. People talk a conservsative game, but people act just like the good comrades that they actually are.
saleboter| 11.13.08 @ 10:43AM
We have a saying at the place I work. "When people are unhappy with us they need to try the competition for a while."
I think the competition won't be so good here either.
Tim| 11.13.08 @ 11:47AM
A 52-48 social conservative victory in California in 2008, the year of years for the Liberal/Democratic agenda is tantimount to a 60-40 victory in normal times and 65-35 in socially conservative leaning years.
Then again if members of Act Up and other far left loons keep dragging little old ladies to the floor and stomping on their religious crosses for all to see then you may even see a back lash during the Obama times led no less then from socially conservative African American families those same people that put Obama in the White House. Politics, she is a funny business.
Doctor Right| 11.13.08 @ 12:17PM
Re: Secession...What a lovely word...
I had this discussion with a Lib-friend at work about a year ago (not all Libs are spiteful, evil trolls...Some of them are actually quite nice, albiet very naive...)
Anyway, we were debating the direction of the country, getting nowehere, when I made him a proposal. It went like this:
Since the country is fairly divided into "Red state-Blue state", let's make the divide official. We who favor to live by the original US Constitution will co-habitate in the newly formed "United States of Conservativia" (or "USC"), while those who prefer a more living, breathing kind of Constitution will live in "The People's Republic of Liberalia" (or "PRL"). They (Liberalians) get the entire west coast AND New England, but we (Conservativians) get the east coast (south of Maryland), Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico.
The USC will be run in a very laissez-faire manner. We will adapt the original US Constitution as our own. States-rights will be paramount. Corporate income-tax will be parctically non-existent, as will a capital gains tax. As a result, corporations from around the world will relocate to the newly formed "USC", and the economy will explode. Conservativians, who also pay only a 10% flat-tax as income tax (no loop-holes, and it requires a 100%, absolute Congressional majority to be raised) will be making money hand-over fist. The USC will be drilling for oil all over our biggest state, Alaska, as well as in the Gulf, off of the Atlantic shelf. The glut of oil on the worldwide market will bankrupt Saudi Arabia. Conservativians will be paying $.20/gallon for gas, and driving monstrously huge SUVs that hold 12 people, a 40" wide-screen TV, and a wet bar.
Because of the lack over over-bearing enviormmental regualtions that restrict progress and technological advancement, the USC will experience a huge techno-boom. India will begin out-sourcing workers to the USC to take advantage of the incredible opportunites we provide.
Conservativia will have more millionaires per capita than any country on earth. In fact, if you haven't earned a billion, you're not even "a player."
Under the leadership of President Palin, our nation will grow and prosper.
Now...Over the fence in the "PRL", things are a tad different...
Chancellor Obama and Vice-Chancellor Emmanuel are having a tough time keeping the populace happy. The "Michelle" (that's what they call the currency) is at an all-time low versus the USC Dollar; in fact, Liberalians are wall-papering the walls of their "Paulsons" (government-owned and designed modular homes; basically, a shipping container with windows) with the useless currency.
High Minister of Mother-Earth Al Gore has suspended bathing on weekends, and insisted that all Liberalian families take communal baths no more than once a week to save water. His ministry's official slogan "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down" appears on bill-boards in every town in the People's Republic.
Persoanl cars are non-existent in the PRL. Those left-over from "the Great Split" were planned to be smelted, but High Minister Gore, under the Dear Leader's direction, bankrupted the fledgling nation's coal industry, so no smelting plants are left operating. The useless cars were stripped by the populace for anything useful, and left to rot where they stood. Some have been utilized as coffins, other as planters and ponds by the more industrious citizens of the PRL, but as ingenuity and innovation are officially frowned upon (it's unfair, and too "uppity"), this practice has, of late, diminished.
But life is not all bad in the PRL. The wisdom of the Dear Leader (or, "Uncle O", as the schoolchildren call him) plays constantly on government-run radio after the re-institution of the "Unfairness Doctrine" that banned the unfair ideas of dissidents. In addition, the weekly ration of corn was recently increased to 2 kilos per family per week, and universal daycare is widely available.
The PRL's neighbor's, however, are not as thrilled. The Government of Mexico, innundated with refugees seeking economic and political freedom in Tijuana, has appealed to the U.N. for help, but so far, U.N. Secretary-General Bill Clinton has been unmoved by their plight, claiming he only just heard about the problem when he read it in the papers, and that maybe the USC could help, since the world's most prosperous nation is "Obligated to assist those less fortunate".
In response, Border-Control Agents along the world's most heavily guarded border havd been instructed by President Palin to provide all refugees from the PRL with the following items:
1. 1 bottle mineral water.
2. 1 McDonald's Happy Meal
3. A biography of Ronald Reagan
4. A one-year's subscription to "Rush 24/7"
5. A swift, kick in the pants back towards the worker's paradise that is the "PRL"
Rumors have it that a re-unification between the USC and the PRL may be in the works, but privately, most polls in the USC are unsympathetic to the plight of the Liberals, saying "Those idiots got what they wanted..."
Lem| 11.13.08 @ 12:17PM
Accckkk!! This is where Libertarian heads begin to explode. Worry about government and let the culture deal with itself. The "culture" is a free market. It doesn't need meddling any more than the banking system or the economy in general. I'm sick & tired of hearing about what either Republicans or Democrats are going to "do" I want to hear about what's going to be undone- how you're going to get out of the way. Protect personal liberties. Then stop, please.
"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."
-- P.J. O'Rourke
Vern Crisler | 11.13.08 @ 3:03PM
Thanks to Doctor Right for his parable about the lands of Conservativia and Liberalia. But if George Orwell couldn't convince 'em what chance does Doctor Right have?
Pat| 11.13.08 @ 4:05PM
Talk about rationalizing failure - now, it's Americans didn't reject conservative values, just McCain - is that the current flavor of head in the sand denial? Sure, religious and non-religious folks tried to defend traditional marriage in California and other states. Then how come there are legally married gays in California - possibly because the courts legalized gay marriage? And think the courts might also overturn these fresh from the ballot box amendments?
Should the courts simply decide to invalidate the voters' most recent protest, then what? How would conservative values have triumphed? More than likely, this issue like so many past "conservative values" issues will simply die of frustration. Then on to the next confrontation, right?
Let's stop pretending the majority of Americans support conservative values, they don't. Wishing for the impossible and then talking ourselves into believing the impossible is easily possible is neither an effective political strategy nor a healthy vision of reality.
Josh F| 11.13.08 @ 4:27PM
"Hipsters" are anti-liberal? I'm not so sure. There are plenty of so-called hipsters that are on a regular schedule of indoctrination from late night comedy. Jon Stewart, Leno, Letterman, and SNL had field day after field day with the McCain/Palin ticket this election cycle because it was such a caricature of the past. (Leno even signaled that he will have a hard time poking fun at an Obama administration.) McCain/Palin seemed like a pretty pathetic rerun of Bush/Cheney 2004, which looked stale in contrast to Obama/Biden. The margin of defeat in the youth vote should give all Republicans pause. Perhaps Ron Paul *was* overlooked.
Alan Brooks| 11.13.08 @ 8:03PM
if we are winning the culture war, why is marijuana being smoked everywhere... why is there billion$ in filth on TV and the web?...
and that's just to begin with...
Grant| 11.13.08 @ 10:53PM
Re: Rape and Abortion
Fathers need to tell their sons what happens to rapists in the Hereafter.
Fathers need to train their teen daughters in pistol marksmanship, and make sure they get all the ammo they need.
(Against this, probably most rapists are fatherless, and, certainly today, many rape victims, sadly.) What do you know! Another argument for marriage!
Alan Brooks| 11.13.08 @ 11:20PM
I'm posting another message to give 2 quick examples of why the culture war is not being won.
1. Do you think child porn is being chased off the web?
Guess again.
It is being dandied up.
Now 'nudist camp' discs are being sold by the Millions. "Junior miss pageants in giant-sized full color HD". emphasis on the 'Junior' in "Junior miss". Giant sized so the hundreds of thousands of older men who buy the discs can see everything.
2. Everywhere I go young people offer me "bowls". Sounds innocuous, right? Like maybe a bowl of green beans or mashed potatoes? No.
Social pathology isn't on the run, it is being glitzified; MAINSTREAMED.
Sara| 11.14.08 @ 11:48AM
The Republican party needs to step up and expand the cultural war; which is the differences between a socialist culture versus a uniquely free culture. It is not just pro-life issues; there is also the problem of liberals erasing western ethics from business and medical schools. It is liberals punishing speech they do not want anyone to hear on college campuses. It is liberals hating anyone who disagrees with them - especially Christians. Basically, it is liberals rejecting the constitutional rights of their political enemies wherever they have the power to do so. It is liberals being so ethically scummy, they are now stealing elections with Acorn. To be free, we need the self governance of Western character expectations and ethics. So, the culture war has been diluted to only pro life issues on the front burner - but it is much larger than that and should be taken on all fronts in order to win the interest of young people who suffer under the thumps of intolerant and unethical neo-Marxists/humanists.
Eugene Debbs| 11.14.08 @ 2:28PM
Sara--
Are liberals alone in "hating" people that disagree with them?
I'd stick around and see what the responses to my post sound like, if you're interested in challenging your take on things.
Your terms a little clunky. "Humanists" are philosophically at odds with "Marxists" (including "neo Marxists"). It's complicated, but generally we divide political philosophy into "liberal" (or rights based) and "Marxist."
The "liberal" tradition (not in the stupid way conservatives use the word "liberal" -- I mean the correct usage of the word) is culturally related to the humanism of the Enlightenment and, ultimately, the Reformation (which, as you know, was a Christian cultural movement).
Humanism is a broad intellectual category that generally refers to the centrality of learning and education to culture. While it is at the heart of liberalism, it is also eminently "conservative." (And here I'm going to do something no one around here does: I'm going to use the word "conservative" correctly in a sentence.)
Conservatism is a cultural tendency to preserve wisdom and traditions. Humanism, for example, is conservative in the sense that it insists on bookishness, erudition, the preservation of old books, and a knowledge of history. (Conservatism, in other words, has about as much to do with Sarah Palin as World War One had to do with a squirrel).
You mention some paranoid beliefs about ACORN and liberals hating you, and a bunch of other nonsense I don't have time for.
Here's my advice: regroup. Go back to your movement's BEST thinkers (and yes, they include David Brooks). Reread William F Buckley. But go back to the cultural conservatives in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth century -- writers like Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, and John Ruskin. Think through your ideas. Be rational. Liberate yourself from the paranoia, bigotry, and fear that has captured you within these cloistered and poisonous fringes.
Then give another thought to that "culture war" you're so eager to have. That is, when you know something about your culture and its history.
Barbara, | 11.15.08 @ 10:10AM
Unless I've missed it, I don't see a surge of conservative values, especially among our young. WE have allowed our schools to warp these kids, instead of teaching them something to get ahead. I see many that cannot spell, cannot do simple math, but they follow Obama like a lost kitten, waiting for a handout.
How can we fight Obama's idea of everyone deserves a house, a handout, if people gather round him with their hands out?
We should infiltrate our schools as the Dems did, then deport illegal aliens, as the Dems want them for voters...that's the last thing we need, for several reasons, but to allow the Dems to have another bunch of supporters?
boomer| 11.15.08 @ 11:20AM
Lem,
the PJ O'rourke quote is fabulous!!!
Thanks Much.
Michael L. Hauschild| 11.17.08 @ 9:29AM
The Noble Experiment II (prohibition by platform) has just ended with the most liberal politician possible in the WH backed by a Congress of similar leaning. Sadly, this new majority actually thinks they have some sort of “socialistic/liberal” mandate. Not so, this election was a fluke for two reasons.
First, the positive, an empowered black turnout propelled Barak Obama into the presidency. However, what that constituency will soon come to realize is that he is primarily a democrat and the Oval Office will pledge its allegiance to the Unions and big government. By the time the next election cycle rolls around brother Obama will be back with his hand out to those still riding in the back of the bus, however, his continence will be that of a half white cousin to Jimmy Carter.
On the negative side, the Republican downturn was created on two levels, those who were so disgusted with their candidates that they stayed home and enhanced by many who actually voted. Shift voters made the emphatic statement that they did not want any meddling in their lives. Women told the Republicans to stay out of their womb; gays and sympathetic straights told the Republicans to stay out of citizen’s bedrooms; and most importantly the scant electorate remaining punished the Republican elite for removing the term “illegal” from their vocabulary.
It seems that prohibition is a two way street. What the Republican platform needs is not delusional Nobility, but repeal.
Susan | 11.27.08 @ 1:17AM
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Susan
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