Friday, November 5, 2010

Death to Conservativism?

The front page of the New York Times on Wednesday read, "Obama Received Rebuke". On the various election websites the United States was painted red with small islands of blue in all races. Yet, there are real frictions within the Republican Party. This this linked article from Politico reveals the friction. Rather than riding a wave of success the article suggests many Republicans are stewing over the victories that could have been.

The argument is that conservatives lost races in Delaware, Colorado, Nevada, and (are currently losing) Washington because the candidates were not centrist enough. Strategists say that the Republicans should not put forth candidates so conservative in the future. They will have no chance at the White House unless they become less conservative. My question is, "What does this imply?"

If, in fact, the sentiment is that these candidates were too conservative and unable to win that must mean one of two things. First, the Republican party believes that the whole nation has become more leftist. That is, a candidate with more traditional conservative values would not be able to garner enough votes to be viable. Second, the strategists do not accurately understand people's beliefs.

The burning question is whether traditional conservative values such as small government and lower taxes dead?  

No comments: