Letter Bag: Debate is Good for Democracy!

Recently, I received this comment on the post The Real History of Democrats and Republicans. Faced with a slow news day leading up to a long weekend, I figured this was an excellent time to post another edition of Biblical Conservatism's Letter Bag!  Here's the comment:

Obviously, you're a Republican...my question is: why do we need to have these two different office? Why not have one group? Why do we always need to compete as opposed to working in unity?

Signed,
An Independent First of all, Anindy, thank you for the hearty laugh your attempt to sound wise while exhibiting zero signs of actual wisdom gave me.  I really appreciate you breaking up my day with some humor.  Sadly, friends, I'm fairly certain our friend Anindy is serious.  So I'll take some time to explain to our well meaning friend how America works.

Regardless of which side of the aisle you fall, there are primarily two very different mentalities for how to govern this nation. Conservatism believes in as much freedom and as little government as possible.  We believe that life is never going to be fair, but the best chance anyone has to succeed is to make their own choices and have the chance to earn their own way.  In short, we believe in equality of opportunity. Liberalism believes that government can create a social utopia where people somehow have equality of result by socially engineering and government legislating everything in our lives.

Both sides firmly believe in their positions, Anindy.  (Conservatism also has a history of results.)  It would be intellectually dishonest for either side to just say "You know what? Even though I firmly believe in my ideas, I'm going to throw them out and just get along because that'll be nicer!" Yes, I know, political "moderates" like yourself who can't stand disagreement will be happy, but it doesn't mean it's the best thing for the nation.

Both sides are going to instead compete with their ideas. That's how America works. You see, the two sets of ideas compete for votes and the opportunity to enact those ideas.  When a set of ideas wins, they get the opportunity to enact said ideas.  In the last 50 years, both conservatism and liberalism have had their chances to enact their ideas.  (The conservative ecnomies are, by the way, the 50s, the early 60s, the 80s, and yes the 90s...sorry Democrats, Clinton's boom hoappened after he signed conservative reforms.  The liberal economies include the late 60s, the early 70s and the current economy under Barack Obama.) 

Both sides are very different, Anindy, but they are also intellectually honest. They believe what they believe and they fight for it.  Then there's a third group.  This group wants to be thought of as intelligent and wise, but doesn't want to go through the effort of actually BELIEVING in something. So instead they say things like "let's all work together." Translation:  "Let's all ignore our deeply held beliefs so we don't have to have mean old arguments. If we all just put aside our beliefs and pretend not to care things would be more pleasant."

Newsflash, Anindy: THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. It also SHOULDN'T happen.  You see, America works BECAUSE we discuss our differences and let our ideas compete in the arena of ideas.  When ideas can't compete, new ideas don't get brought up, old ideas that worked are ignored, and we pretty much stay on whatever trajectory we're on now.  You get consistency, sure, but you also get mediocrity. 

America is advanced citizenship.  You have to participate.  You have to listen to the two sides and make an intelligent conclusion. You have to see if your current beliefs hold up to scrutiny. You have to be willing to change your mind in the face of evidence. This last part is the real problem, not that icky debate stuff you dislike so much.

Now I realize there is one problem with this for people like our friend Anindy: You have to pay attention to come across as politically intelligent. You can't just say canned lines like "we should work together" to try to sound smart without having to pay attention or hold a position.

Now I know some people aren't politically active. That's fine.  It's ok to not be politically active.  Just as long as you don't try to tell those of us who do pay attention how you're so much smarter than us and then say "we should just get along and quit fighting." Those of us who are fighting for our respective sides, both liberal and conservative, we are the ones who make America work.  We are the competitors in the Arena of Ideas. 

People like Anindy aren't even the spectators.  They're the people who drive by the stadium and mumble "baseball is boring" without understanding the game at all...they just heard that line from their friend Lenny who is a football nut and doesn't like baseball because it isn't football, and wanted people to say "right on!" to them like Lenny's buddies said to him at the time.

I close with this, Anindy: Please, I'm begging you, either get on the field and play or get out of the stadium. Quit trying to put on a striped shirt and then run on the field and pretend you're the referee.

In 2012, Conservatives are STILL the Center

In December of 2010, I launched this blog with a post entitled Conservatives are the Center.  Earlier this year, In a new Gallup poll,  the point has once again been demonstrated, conservatives are the most populous ideological group in the nation.



Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.



According to polls throughout 2011, 40% of Americans consider themselves to be conservative, while 35% call themselves moderate at 21% admit to being liberal.  So once again, there are nearly twice as many conservatives as liberals.

Yet we as conservatives continue to try to pander to the so-called moderates.  The reality, of course, is that the vast majority of moderates are either liberals who realize they are the minority and don't want that stigma; conservatives who don't realize that we are the majority and thus claim moderateness; and finally those who simply want to be thought of as intelligent and thoughtful, and have thus adapted a default position of sitting smack dab in the middle of the fence with a leg on each side so as to maintain their desired appearance.

There is, of course, an electoral spin on this mindset.  Liberals, because they genuinely are a minority, have to move toward the center to have a snowball's chance in July of being elected (after all, you can't win an election on your actual beliefs when only 21% of Americans share your values). To win, they need to get close to 90% of the self-identified moderates to vote for them.  That's staggering.

Conservatives, on the other hand, only need to sway just over 30% of the self-identified moderates to win, because we have a clear plurality of the population just with fellow conservatives!  Why?  Because we conservatives ARE the centrist position!  We are the pulse of most Americans!  We just need to get a relatively small piece of those moderates to join us, while the Left has to get the majority.

Need more proof of this?  Let's look at registered Independents. Now, depending on your state, registering as an Independent ranges from a complete waste of party affiliation to a logical and reasonable choice.   In some states, , Independents can vote in their choice of the Democratic or Republican primaries, which is very useful if your party has an incumbent running unopposed in that year's primary election.  It can be used to moderate your opposing party's candidate (or to just cause trouble like some did in Operation Chaos).  In states with closed primaries, however, being a registered Independent keeps you from ever voting in a primary election and having a choice as to whom you can vote for in the general election. 

Independents are not synonymous with moderates but it's a fair comparision, so let's look at the conservative, moderate and liberal numbers within that group:



Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in US



Well would you look at that?  35% of registered Independents consider themselves conservatives!  So if we can get them with conservatism, it looks like conservatives can win elections with comfortable ease.  The truth remains: Conservatives don't need to pander to moderates to get elected...we're already the majority!  We're the center position!  We're the group that embodies what the nation believes! 

So, my message remains the same to conservatives, to Republicans: Be proud to be conservative.  To be a conservative means standing for traditional American values, for rugged individualism, for a "Yes YOU Can (with hard work)!" mentality and not "Yes We Can (with other people's money)!"  Let's just be conservatives, and let the chips fall where they predictably may...on our side. 

Gallup: Obama in Trouble with Independents

Political elites on both sides of the aisle will tell you that a candidate in a national election needs to reach those "independents," the great unwashed middle who "makes their decisions on each issue at each election" to win.  The conventional wisdom is, of course, that 40% of Americans will automatically vote Democrat at 40% will automatically vote Republican, so the election tips on that 20%. 

I've never bought this, or the so-called moderate/independent self definition of wisdom beyond compare to decide their positions issue by issue, in the least. Most of these people somehow find a way to land with one leg on either side of the fence on every single issue then call themselves wise beyond compare.  The truth is they are a) not willing to take time to consider issues b) want to be perceived as smart and c) are persuaded not by substance but by style.  But I digress.

Gallup, recently, brought out some more very bad news for President Obama, in a new poll breakdown released on November 29th. According to the poll, of the 14% who self identify as "pure independents" (that is, neither lean Democrat or Republican), only 30% approve of the job President Obama is doing.  This is compared to 43% that the President is receiving across all party lines.   Once we add in those who lean slightly to the Democrat or Republican side, the President's approval rises only to 35%.  Again, that's not good for Obama (but great for America).

I've been saying this for quite some time, my friends, Obama is in trouble. He's going to be defeated in 2012.  I can hear you who buy into the whole moderate/independent baloney now telling me that we must nominate Mitt Romney or...gaaaaa...Jon Huntsman...to get those independents.  Look, it does not matter. These proud independents/moderates are convinced not by ideas but by personalities.  That's the reason they voted for Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.  They will be convinced by a conservative with great ideas just as easily as they bought into Hopey Change.

The President is headed for a big defeat in the 2012 Election.  So let's make sure he loses to a real conservative.  This is our time, friends.  Let's go!

The Bias of Moderateness

We all know these people: They're so very proud of their moderateness, they trumpet how they "listen to both sides then make a decision issue by issue." They almost always find a way to land in the center, somehow, even though they're considering each issue on its merits. It's as legitimate of a bias as Conservatism or Liberalism, without the inherent honesty of bias that comes with the Left and the Right (Drive-By Media and their poorly hidden bias not withstanding).

These individuals believe that the concept of the middle ground taught in the school yard is absolutely true in life. You know which concept I speak of: If two people are having a disagreement, it is likely neither are 100% right, but the truth is in the middle. (This is often false, by the way. (This is often false, by the way. If one child is bullying another child because the bully needs to feel superior or in control of another person, the bullied child is not partially to blame; the bully is to blame for his actions.) Thus they find a way to land in the middle.

They see Conservatives pushing for low taxes and Liberals for high taxes, they recommend the two sides split the difference. They see Conservatives wanting small government and Liberals wanting big government, they push for medium sized government. Unfortunately, both economic history and the desire for the maximum amount of freedom for individuals would stand in the way of even medium level taxes or medium sized government. In the case of the former, the more money you take out of the economy the more you are harming the ability of business owners to hire by taking away business capital. In the case of the latter, we already have too much government; quite frankly we need less of it that the current batch of Republicans is accepting.

It’s not hard to understand WHY people love being considered moderates. In the case of Liberals, they recognize that Liberalism is not main stream by any stretch. In the Gallup Poll that I quote frequently (1), only 20% of Americans consider themselves Liberal. So, wanting to be perceived as mainstream, they call themselves “moderate.”

Conservatives actually are quite main stream. The same poll shows 42% of Americans consider themselves Conservative, more than double the number of Liberals and a comfortable 7% more than consider themselves Moderate. Unfortunately, Conservatives are treated as being as extreme as Liberalism, and since they don’t want to be perceived as extremists, many Conservatives call themselves “Moderate.”

There’s another reason, and it’s more important than the others. The Media has done its very best to promote being a moderate as akin to being thoughtful, intellectual, good with children, an excellent cook, and all kinds of good things. The Drive-Bys have done their best to make sure you WANT to be called Moderate, because it makes you sound wise.

Automatically aiming for the middle doesn’t make a person wise. What makes a person wise is being intelligent enough to do the things that work and have worked over time. Wisdom is continuing the things that have brought positive results and ceasing the things that yielded negative results. Historically, Conservatism has yielded positive results and Liberalism has yielded negative results. To split the difference is to simply garner somewhat less positive results at best or somewhat less lousy results at worst.

Yet there are individuals who define their entire political beliefs on the idea of being moderate. If they truly considered each issue on its merit, it is likely they would end up with a Conservative view on some issues and a more Liberal view on others. I’ve met few people who fit that description (although there are a handful of such people). The ones who aren’t Conservatives or Liberals in denial and aren’t in that small handful I mentioned before are people who are biased toward moderateness.

They put one leg on either side of the fence on every issue and sit. My friends, this isn’t wisdom. It is in fact less wise even than those who fall immediately to the left or the right simply because it is left or right. Those individuals at least found out that their core values are Liberal or Conservative and thus assume that their opinion on a new issue would likely fall in line with those core values. Moderates just aim for the fence with their rear ends so they can sit on it.

The bias of moderateness is a copout. It’s an attempt to seem wise while being lazy. People who are stuck on being moderate are not intelligent; they just want you to think of them that way. To those of you who are legitimate Conservatives, who feel you must call yourself Moderate, please stop. You have made your decisions on values and a track record of success. Be proud of it! 42% of Americans agree with you. Even those of you who are Liberal, I don’t agree with you but at least have the guts to admit who you are. If you are truly convinced of Liberalism, stand up for it, don’t spin it and call it being Moderate to be palatable to those who don’t agree with you.

To those of you who automatically aim for the fence to sit on it…for Heaven’s sake please take the time to make an informed decision. Even if you become convinced of Liberalism you’ve been adult enough to take a stand. Landing in the center doesn’t make you wise, it makes you wishy-washy.

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(1) In 2010, Conservatives Still Outnumber Moderates, Liberals