The Republican convention was really the main event of this
political season. It was the long-awaited test for George W. Bush to
see if he has what it takes to lead the Republicans to victory in
November, and he came through with flying colors. His acceptance speech
was so well crafted and so well delivered that any conservative who
listened to it — and listened to it carefully — came away with the
feeling that he was a man they could support and even trust. That’s
saying an awful lot about a politician. But certainly, that was what
the speech conveyed.
Yes, there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats. And
the difference is significant enough for conservatives to know that they
must vote for Bush or simply waste their ballot. Buchanan’s brand of
ideological conservatism has been relegated to the very fringe of the
political debate, while The Constitution Party hovers over the political
scene like a spiritual entity rather than a political party. Which
means that Howard Phillips is more a prophet than a politician.
Thus, there is no reason for constitutional conservatives not to vote
for George W. Bush, even though they may believe that he isn’t
conservative enough. For a politician, he is about as conservative as
any politician can be under our present system and still get elected.
That’s the reality we face: a voting public which is largely
non-ideological in its response to politics. Which makes the choice
pretty simple: Bush or Gore. I belong to the ABG Party — the Anyone
But Gore Party. Besides, vice presidential candidate Cheney is a good
conservative and will provide guidance to the new president. That’s a
great plus.
That the convention was skillfully staged to give the TV viewer a
series of positive images of the Republican Party indicates that
Republicans have finally learned how to fashion a message that fits
today’s media realities. The overwhelmingly liberal mass media are like
sharks hungry for blood. That’s all that Rather, Jennings, Brokaw and
the morning shows look for. So why give them blood? The Republican
convention gave them oatmeal.
Meanwhile, we can expect lies and more lies from the junior master of
lies, Al Gore. Poor Bill Bradley could no longer take it. Democrats in
the primaries preferred Gore to Bradley because they can live with
lies. It reminds me of what happened when Bill Clinton denied that he
had had an affair with Monica Lewinsky. His cabinet and his staff
believed him and went around America telling everyone that Clinton had
spoken the truth. But then when Clinton finally admitted that he did
indeed have an affair with Miss Lewinsky, and that he had lied to all of
us, did anyone in his cabinet or on his staff resign in great
indignation at having been used by Clinton to spread his lies? No, they
did not. Why? Because they had learned to live very comfortably with
lies, thus revealing their own moral corruption.
By the way, this does not mean that all Republican politicians wear
haloes. I’m sure that if I had the opportunity to peruse those 1,000
FBI files of Republicans, I’d find some shocking information. The
Democrats regaled us with stories of infidelity, adultery, and other
sins committed by some outstanding conservative Republicans. Which only
proves that conservatives are also human beings and can make as many
tragic mistakes as anyone else. I remember how disappointed and shocked
I was when I found out that Solzhenitsyn had divorced his wife for
another woman. He was my hero. But then I realized that Solzhenitsyn
was not obliged to live a life without sin, perched on a moral pedestal
to satisfy the adolescent needs of hero worshippers. What counts is
that he did not lie to us.
Let’s get down to reality. The differences between Republicans and
Democrats are significant enough to make our choice in November
meaningful. The Democrats are the party of people who live off the
taxpayer: unionized government employees, the organized teachers,
bureaucrats in federal, state, and local governments, all of whom have a
vested interest in higher taxes. They also include liberal millionaires
who feel guilty about being rich and therefore want the government to
take care of the poor. Their foundations don’t give money to the poor,
but to other liberal wealthy tax-exempt institutions. Add to them the
abortionists, pornographers and Hollywood degenerates and you have an
idea of the moral corruption at the heart of the Democratic Party that
fuels Al Gore’s campaign of lies.
Republicans, in general, are those who earn their own way without
government help. They are individualists who don’t want government
breathing down their necks. They are small-business owners and
entrepreneurs who work hard and take their chances in the marketplace.
They take care of themselves and pay their own way. They employ
millions of people and pay their taxes. They are usually religious,
pro-life, pro-capitalist, pro-freedom. They are homeschoolers who pay
for their children’s education while still paying taxes for the public
schools.
Probably the most despicable act of the Clinton administration was
the kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez and handing him over to Castro’s brutal
communist regime. In what they did to that boy can be seen the treason,
the cruelty, and the criminal mindset of the Clintonistas. Imagine what
they would do to conservatives if they had the freedom and police power
to do so. All of which indicates how successful the Founding Fathers
were in creating a government with such amazingly effective checks and
balances. If Clinton had had his way, conservatives would now be
rotting away in Alaskan concentration camps with no one to liberate
them.
And so, the Republican Party has at long last adapted itself to the
political realities of today: a non-ideological public that is
enormously affected by television images and sound bites. Few Americans
today could explain what socialism is and why one should vote against
it. The new immigrant voter, for example, expects government to be
socially active. Why? Because that’s the way today’s world works, and
American public schools affirm it. That’s why today’s politicians, if
they want to win, must show how they will get government to do more for
the people, not less. Here in Massachusetts, most candidates for local
government positions or the state legislature rarely put their party
affiliation on their campaign literature.
However, ideology is very important to individual activists. But we
are learning that the conservative revolution cannot be openly conducted
from the stage of a Republican national convention. These conventions
have now become media events that must be carefully scripted and staged
as any other major television commercial campaign. Conservatives must
reconcile themselves to these media realities.
Yes, there is a conservative revolution taking place; it is largely
taking place underground, among homeschoolers, among internet
journalists, among radio talk shows, among conservative think tanks that
have gained enormously in prestige over the last two decades, and in
fundamentalist churches. For example, when Michael Farris, head of the
Home School Legal Defense Association, announced the founding of Patrick
Henry College, which will train homeschooled youngsters to become
effective congressional aides, he was acting as one of the new founding
fathers.
Much of what is happening underground will have its major political
impact five or ten years from now when mature homeschoolers enter
politics. Thus, conservatives have much to look forward to. The
liberals are killing off their unborn, but homeschoolers are having
large families. Michael Farris already has 10 children, and he and his
wife are still young and vigorous. Thus, a Bush-Cheney administration
should be considered a transition period during which a restrained
federal government lets the American people decide their own future.
Samuel L. Blumenfeld is the author of eight books on education including “NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education,” “The Whole Language/OBE Fraud,” and “Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children.” His books are available on
Amazon.com.
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