CPAC 2014 kicked off this week in Washington D.C. with big name conservatives and possible Republican presidential hopefuls headlining the affair. With prominent leaders like Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz and Governors Christie and Jindal, conservatives had a chance to rally their base. This is a good thing to happen, igniting a robust debate on the future of our country.
That said, there have been missteps along the way from conservatives instilling their principles as being inherently Republican while using the CPAC platform to deliver this perception. After Gov. Christie gave a very good speech on Republicans "standing for something", these principles were labeled by conservative groups, such as the National Republican Congressional Committee, as being "conservative principles", while not being specially listed as such by Christie. Conservative principles?... How about REPUBLICAN principles? Upon last checking, there wasn't a major national party called the "Conservative Party" in the U.S. (regardless of what conservative media and party members suggest the GOP is). That was Margaret Thatcher in the UK. Ideological purity was never the intent when abolitionists worked to reclaim the enslaved's constitutional rights. Liberty was the goal.
While many conservatives are in the Republican Party because of our tradition in personal liberty (which Christie spoke about), conservatism and Republicanism are NOT synonymous. We do ourselves a disservice narrowly identifying with a singular ideology only. In fact, the Republican Party and the U.S. were founded on the ideals later termed 'Classical Liberalism' (i.e. John Locke) with a focus on individual liberty. 'Conservatives' in the terms of early Republicans were tasked with conserving our founding liberal principles. Declaring individual liberty from a ruling king is a fairly liberal act. Further, the word 'liberal' is derived from liberty. This means Republicans represent conservative AND liberal principles. No good idea is wrong just because it falls under a certain ideology.
#CPAC2014 is a conservative convention. Many good Republican leaders attended and progressed an improving message. But party Republicans must be careful not to alienate liberal Republicans and Independents in their hurry to fire up a segment of its base. A larger segment looms. So again, contrary to conservative purists' claims, we must go back to our REPUBLICAN principles or remain forever lost as the conservative version of the Democratic Party. Christie is right. We must stand for something.
While many conservatives are in the Republican Party because of our tradition in personal liberty (which Christie spoke about), conservatism and Republicanism are NOT synonymous. We do ourselves a disservice narrowly identifying with a singular ideology only. In fact, the Republican Party and the U.S. were founded on the ideals later termed 'Classical Liberalism' (i.e. John Locke) with a focus on individual liberty. 'Conservatives' in the terms of early Republicans were tasked with conserving our founding liberal principles. Declaring individual liberty from a ruling king is a fairly liberal act. Further, the word 'liberal' is derived from liberty. This means Republicans represent conservative AND liberal principles. No good idea is wrong just because it falls under a certain ideology.
#CPAC2014 is a conservative convention. Many good Republican leaders attended and progressed an improving message. But party Republicans must be careful not to alienate liberal Republicans and Independents in their hurry to fire up a segment of its base. A larger segment looms. So again, contrary to conservative purists' claims, we must go back to our REPUBLICAN principles or remain forever lost as the conservative version of the Democratic Party. Christie is right. We must stand for something.
NJ Governor Chris Christie at 2014 CPAC in Washington, D.C. (3/6/14)
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