After being defeated fairly handily in the last two election cycles it appears conservatives within the GOP are trying to find their identity. After spending twelve years in the majority from 1994 to 2006 many conservatives complained that the very people that came in to be part of the Republican Revolution congressional class of 1994 actually lost their way by becoming big government conservatives with overspending on wasteful government programs like Medicare Part D. At the time the Part D passed then Majority Tom Delay promised it would lock up the votes of senior citizens in the Republican column for a generation to come. Many conservatives are looking for a leader to carry their message of low taxes, faith playing a role in politics and a strong national defense. Currently they have turned to popular talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh to carry out the fight against the policy proposals brought forth by the Obama Administration. Many conservatives feel that the views of this new administration are contrary to the building blocks that this nation was founded upon. Conservatives are looking for a leader similar to that of Ronald Reagan. A man who could articulate his point of view so it could be understood by the common man. Reagan also brought the brand of politics that conservatives like-the idea that government cannot solve problems, but government is the problem. They were looking for a leader to articulate that kind of message, but appeared unable to find him or her. George Allen of Virginia or Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania would have been prime candidates to carry that mantle, but they were defeated in re-election bids to the United States Senate. George Allen with his appeal describing himself as a proponent of Jeffersonian democracy/small government and Rick Santorum's staunch adherence to socially conservative principles would have had plenty of appeal amongst much of the base of the GOP. The Presidential bid of John McCain hit on the right notes with conservatives as far as reducing the level of government spending and regulation coming from Washington D.C. appeared to hit the right note with most conservatives. However, his diatribes about reducing earmarks and pork barrel spending may have been too inside baseball or inside the U.S. Senate for the common voter to fully comprehend. The common voter does not have time to study whether or not all earmarks are bad or not. They have to focus on going to work each day and providing a comfortable standard of living for their families. The question for conservatives right now and you see a similar problem for some liberals in certain parts of the country, which is whether or not they should purify the party which would give it a more unified message? This would possibly give their candidates less of a chance of winning in the Northeast and in some of the suburbs of America. The liberals have the same problem in the South. Should they go forward with a unified message or try to remain a "big tent?" If conservatives cannot come up with an answer to this question they may have trouble getting the electoral victories necessary to get out of the hole that they are currently in. For more information on conservatives, visit http://conservativesmicroblog.com and http://electionmicroblog.com
About the Author:
Author: John Parks