Political losses are interesting to watch. Generally speaking,
the left and the right handle them differently.
Too often, the tendency of the right is to talk about how
certain groups are holding the rest down. Primarily the debate is
between those who favor social conservatism and those who favor
economic conservatism. Each group insists that its approach is the
correct one to get back to a ruling majority vote.
There certainly are quite a few larger problems facing the
conservative movement. Right now, particularly among Hispanic,
black, and Asian voters, the conservative side has a number of
trends that do not favor it. The electorate remained, as it has
been historically, more Democratic than Republican.
Fundamentally, however, fingerpointing is not the correct
approach. For that, conservatives would do well to learn from their
rivals on the left. Liberals handle political losses quite
differently. Generally speaking, left-wingers focus on
what they did wrong and how to fix it rather than try to
cast off who is to blame. Aside from some quibbling
between the hardcore communists and the New Democrat types, you
simply do not see people calling for expulsion of Hispanics,
chastening of gays, or repudiation of government unions. This
communitarian approach has been a core part of how leftists have
operated for centuries. The old French leftist phrase “pas
d’ennemi à gauche,” no enemies on the left, has been
something they live by to this day.
Not only is this approach more rational and free from acrimony,
it is also actually more likely to lead to productive outcomes.
The primary challenges for the right are ones of messaging,
demographics, and market penetration. The specific issues do not
really matter that much to most people, largely because they do not
care about policy. If you can get the larger societal trends moving
in your favor, politics becomes much easier.
The left has long harbored a built-in advantage in the American
system due to greater numbers of Americans identifying with its
party. Historically, the GOP has been able to overcome this through
maxing out its base vote. That happened once again in 2012.
Conservatives of all varieties showed up and voted. The difference
this year was that Democrats finally seem to have developed a real
ground game. Mitt Romney did not lose the election. Barack Obama
won it.
Policy is an outcome of the political process, it is the end. If
conservatives wish to obtain that end, we should focus on the
beginning of the process rather than fight over whose end is best.
Before we can get to that point, however, we must focus on changing
hearts and minds of those who disagree. Making speeches and TV ads
does not do that.
Discussing and debating ultimate objectives is both necessary
and entertaining but now is not the time for it, particularly when
lashing out is the easy thing to do. Our challenge is not whom to
expel but whom to invite in. The next four years are going to be
very interesting for conservatives. Will we learn the lessons we
need to, though?
