What’s Wrong with the Conservative Movement?

Link to article from Town Hall

Summary: Townhall writer wonders how to better get the message of conservatism out to the misinformed public because the media is "so in bed with the Democrats that they need free birth control to prevent pregnancy". He suggests that there are too many polished conservative videos on YouTube that no one who isn't already a conservative will see.

We need to take over media outlets. Also, when we do have a foot in the door, forget this “fair and balanced” crap.

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So much truth in this. He is a little more pessimistic on results than he should be. Our message does get out on a lot of issues, and in polling we are winning on a vast majority off issues in terms of public opinion. Even through this whole contraception manufactured controversy, 50 percent were polling with us...only 39 percent were for mandated coverage.

We have all but won the 2nd amendment issues, and we have done well to gain in the abortion issue.

Still, all the things the author are true, we should do so much better, and need to push harder in the ways he is saying because we often win the political issues but lose in policy because the will is not there to force politicians to stand behind the tough issues. For all the political capital spent since the midterm we should have something more substantial to show for it. Yes, the bleeding as stopped to some degree and we are now cutting a little instead of spending a lot more, but we should have used better techniques to score some bigger wins....like major reform of a particular department or something that we could have gotten the public to rally behind. Instead, Obama was able to reshape the debate as gridlock and lack of compromise, giving him a lifeline in the reelection year. Our messaging sucks and our ability to get the message out widely is terrible.

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We better do something before it is too late.
Like Newt said, we are at a crossroads. This is very dangerous times.

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I guess there aren’t many conservatives left - Romney and Santorum won again yesterday. Newt is the conservative pick in this race. Didn’t anyone learn from Dole and McLame?

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The problem is institutional and insurmountable.
The message is controlled by liberals because liberals control the message.

Why? Schools produce the practitioners of the media and the schools are liberal.

Why? Because the schools are funded by the government. We therefore have a self-sustaining parasite that will feed on the producers until they die and then blame them for dying.

To paraphrase, "Have another Tocqueville of sweet American freedom." for ze joke she is over.

Lock and Load.

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"I was in a debate with a fellow freeper about a year and a half ago... after much debate about the regulation of morals by the fed, this person said to me, and I quote, “ Since it is obvious that you have no morals, I have no problem forcing my moral standards upon you”.... now that is not only a scary quote, but a purebread socialist right there...."

We already regulate morals, since the time of the founders. Murder, theft and rape were criminalized because they are immoral. Having a semantic debate over whether a certain law is based on a "moral standard" or not is useless and pointless. But abortion for instance is every bit as valid for the government to ban as murder, theft or rape. It's completely equivalent to those on a moral or legal scale. Bottom line, the states at least are allowed to regulate anything that isn't a constitutional right. We can have a debate about what laws are good, but defining one as being based on "morals" or not is meaninless. Some immoral behavior is good to regulate, others are not (such as ones related to free speech). So in some cases it is constitutionally correct to force ones morals on someone else (against murdered, rapists, thieves for example) and sometimes it's not.

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I guess we’re too polite, too detached, too submissive. won’t take off our gloves and punch back .... lots of characteristics of Conservatives that are not good if we are to defeat the enemy. The Progs have heard the call to battle and are on the battlefield ... we’re still trying to get folks out of bed. (Note: I know this does not apply to all Conservatives ... some are already fighting the good fight, but their numbers are few compared to the Progs).

-- Progs! I prefer this nickname over Libs. At least now I sound like I'm part of an evil or naive race from Star Trek: The Original Series.

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until some conservative person or group comes along and takes over CBS, NBC, ABC or Faux News we are operating at a huge disadvantage.

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The Republicans, ostensibly the "Party of Business," have truly "sucked" (sorry there is no other modern term that is apt)at Advertising and Public Relations, the engines of business, and of course, politics. You are correct of course. The MSM is hostile and "Conservatives" need to buy and pay for their place in the market. Where are the full page ads in the New York Times and the WSJ? The policy "infomercials?" Why is there no "conservative" Bill Maher?

Instead of spending wisely, The RNC will take half a billion or so and dump it on a complete charlatan like Karl Rove, who will turn around and subcontract it to an ad agency or communication company ... usually owned by a Democrat and staffed with same ... to produce at vaste and insane expense.... senseless, themeless, boring, message-less commercials and ads that would shame any used car company in your town.

Then, they will cut crooked deals to place same in notoriously uneconomical media buys. In short, if an advertising or PR agency did this to a commercial client they would be cashiered overnight.

Many have pointed this out over the years to no avail. A bright spot: Many local Republican races are more or less intelligently run. This is a clue to a thought process: The Republican Party has abdicated its true place in fighting to manage a constitutional government in exchange for safe seats from which they can protect the interests of those who can pay for it. The Republican "Establishment" seems to have a single goal: to remain a minority party, but hopefully strong enough to maintain a good spot at the table where the swag is divided with the Democrats. That's all they will fight for.

Dilemma: The Republican Party is in its ugly, senile death throes. But, what is to replace it? The Democrats and Republicans between them have so jiggered the system that a new party seems impossible to start, much less take off.

The Model is there. It is the Republican Party of the 1840's and 50's, built around a Big Idea: Abolition. Now we need another Big Idea ... and we have one. Constitution. But it seems few politicians will fight ... much less die ... for it.

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Well I can remember the bad old days when there was NO conservative movement. Before Goldwater and Buckley, few of us knew what a conservative was. So we have made a huge amount of progress.

And the Tea Party is proof that the public is waking up. Most of those people have never been involved in politics before or in any kind of protest movement. Wait until this election cycle is over and then see how many bums get thrown out of Congress.

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We need to start our own schools and our own media outlets. We’ve made a little progress on both fronts. The homescooling movement and alternative media are solutions, but relatively new ones. The 1994 and 2010 elections show that we’ve made some progress on both fronts. Obviously we have some way to go.