How would you finish that sentence? For those who believe in traditional values in America, that sentence has long been finished with the words, "...would see things the way we do." That seems to be the approach that the Republican Party took in the 2012 presidential campaign. Surely anyone with a brain would see that our ideas are best for America, right? Not so much. The campaign that so many assumed would be a resounding defeat for liberal ideology turned into a stunning defeat for the other side. Now Republicans shake their heads, scratch their heads, hold their heads in their hands, and wonder how this could have happened.
Conservatives have assumed that Americans understand where they are coming from. Post election conservative talk radio has been an exercise in what I would term, "railing against the darkness." Like before the election, the talk has been about how bad liberal policies are and how the President is doubling down on those policies in his second term. Conservatives seem to be dumbfounded about how this could have happened. After all, don't most Americans think like we do?
I would propose that a change is needed. Long ago I learned a little adage that has stood the test of time. It says, "Methods are many, principles are few; methods will change, but principles never do." I believe that traditional values are best for every American, so those principles are not up for debate. However, the methods of communicating those principles must change, and they must change now. Conservatives can no longer assume that the majority of Americans think like they do. The 2012 election is clear evidence of that truth.
If you were going into a country that had never heard of traditional American values, how would you communicate those values? How would you start from square one? How would you teach every person the values which you hold so dear? This is the approach that is needed in America today. If you believe that traditional values are the best approach for every American, then go to every American. No one is excluded, especially not the groups that have traditionally voted for the other side. Start from the beginning and demonstrate to them how traditional values make life better for them. Show someone living on food stamps and social security that the limitations of that subsistance lifestyle could be broken with hard work and big dreams and determination. You don't want to take away their food stamps; you want them to enjoy the kind of lifestyle so that they will never need food stamps again as long as they live. So many don't even believe that is a possibility. Show them that it is. Show an immigrant how the yearning for freedom that you so believe in is what drove them to leave their homeland to come here in hopes of a better life.Those are Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, traditional American values. All of a sudden, that voting block that seemed unreachable is not so unreachable. Don't tell them that your way is better. Start from scratch and show them. If you can't do that, then what you believe doesn't really matter, does it?
If you believe that traditional American values are what this country needs, then the time is now to start from square one and teach those values to every American. We have four years to get it right. Anyone with a brain can see that.
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