Dear David: It’s a good question — and let me suggest that but for a few exceptions, Republicans and conservatives haven’t been fighting much at all since Ronald Reagan left the White House. They’re not fighting because most don’t realize it’s an information war, and of the few who do — fewer still know what needs to be done to fight it.
You expressed concern that even after taking back the U.S. Senate and the White House the Republican establishment might:
continue to advise restraint, urging us not to drastically roll back Obama’s liberal policies, either because they’ll be horrified about the next election or because they have really, in the end, lost their stomach for political battle and their taste for free market principles.
Establishment Republicans, many of whom are actually conservatives at heart, have no clue how to impact the public mind and thus are frightened by any thought of bold action. Our side has built no pipelines for information to flow to the public at large and instead are dependent upon a liberal and hostile press and popular culture to carry their reform message.
Can you think of anything more foolish than that? I can’t.
Some might argue that we have talk radio and the conservative press online. Yes, we do, as well as millions of low information voters who don’t tune in or dial in to either.
Only once in a while do I actually hear any right-of-center commentator addressing our massive failure in the information war. Most seem content having their words bounce off the walls in the echo chamber. I haven’t studied psychology enough to explain why this is so.
There is good news. For one, there’s an army ready to be enlisted. Unfortunately they’re mostly idle. For another, we’ve got all the issues covered. There are passionate conservatives advocating on everything from Religious Liberty, to the Second Amendment, to fiscal sanity…in fact everything that makes an appearance in the Republican Party’s National Platform…and more.
Getting our side into the fight in this war is the challenge of the day. So, David, our side has the will — just not the leadership and knowledge it needs.
The problem is few of the terrific arguments made by what I call the Republican Conservative Industrial Complex are actually heard by the audiences that need to hear it.
David, you ask:
Will Republicans, if they regain power of both political branches, have the political will to begin to unravel the nightmares caused by an abandonment of our founding principles, or will they just nibble around the edges with insignificant modifications because they no longer believe in either conservative principles or their ability to convince the people that our ideas are still superior?
Until there is a communications revolution on our side you can expect nibbling. Nibbling is guaranteed when our political leaders fear blowback from the press and pop culture. Nibbling is all we can expect when we have no control of the national narrative. Fighting in the information war means building alternative pipelines for communication to flow to our fellow citizens so our leaders need not remain defenseless in the public square.
You write:
We have watched as liberals have overtaken our cultural and educational institutions and successfully vilified the American idea — even to the point that they have many on our side convinced.
Exactly. The question is — what are we going to do about it? More of the same? That’s insane.
How will we ever get our side into that information war…and what will that look like?
The goal is to get our side onto every battlefield. That will require what amounts to a World War II scale mobilization. Accomplishing that will require those with big microphones to realize it’s no longer good enough for them to just make their wonderful living as they always have as a part of the Republican Conservative Entertainment Complex.
Let me explain here why I think the word “entertainment” is interchangeable with “industrial” when I’m referring to this “complex.” When all that’s produced merely informs the already informed, well, it’s not helping us gain ground — it might as well just be seen as entertainment.
What’s needed is for more of these successful radio talkers and commentators to wake up and provide the kind of leadership we can’t wait for from our elected class.
David, you write:
I just want us to get back in the fight. We face a tireless, relentless foe in liberalism, and if we’re not up to the challenge, we might as well kiss America goodbye, irrespective of whether we win or lose the next few elections.
But I am praying — and choose to believe — that we can and will turn this around because our ideas are superior and the majority of people still instinctively understand that. But we need to begin acting and talking as though we believe it.
Again, we agree. But we need to speak of practical and political realities. This is all about public opinion — and our side must become all about outreach to the uninformed and misinformed.
David, we haven’t lost the will to fight — we merely lack two key things: 1. We don’t have enough people calling for and leading this communications revolution. 2. We don’t have enough Republican and conservative big donors supporting genuine outreach to the uninformed and misinformed.
Instead of outreach we have that “complex” I spoke of above. It mostly serves itself. Oh, and it, by the way, is well funded. And we can see what that’s getting us. Two terms of Obama, all the current scandals and messes, a possible third term in the form of Hillary, a large portion of the public that never hears the conservative message from conservatives, and a GOP leadership scared of its shadow. I’ve been writing about all of this for years.
David, here’s a question for you: Will you help me find people to lead and donors to fund this call to arms?
