Barack Obama’s win on Thursday was historic. It was not just another political event. It pierced our culture on a thousand levels; such a radical blow to conventional wisdom comes along once in a century. It happened when Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to a door in Wittenberg. It happened again when the Boston Tea Party incited a revolution against an empire; it happened when Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address.
From somewhere among the motley crews of aged, disgruntled Republicans who have done nothing but inspire fear, from the midst of shrill Democrats who did nothing but talk about “taking down” the rich – somewhere from out of this variegated array of fatalists, one voice rose above it.
I think that an opportunity will have presented itself for conservatives if they are able to vote for Obama in the general election. There are two aspects to his persona that appeal to me. The first is the charismatic side; the side that rejects precedent, that defies tradition and seems to eschew the crusty old cynicism that dominates party politics. Whether you view it as artificial or sincere, it is something our country needs.
The second aspect that appeals to me is his ideology. I don’t care if you view him as a moderate or as a closet Islamic terrorist who wants to impose communism on the nation. (Both sides have adherents.) It’s irrelevant.
If Obama is a “moderate,” he’ll be no worse than Huckabee if he is the Republican nominee. If Obama is an extremist, he will illustrate for America what socialism looks like. When Lyndon Johnson did that for us nearly five decades ago, it acted as a catalyst for the coming of Ronald Reagan.
In either case, it is something the nation will easily survive. The latter possibility is something that conservatives can even benefit from.
On the other hand, if we vote for Mike Huckabee, we will be condoning a continuation of the Bush legacy. I find that to be much more frightening than anything the Democrats have presented. Liberalism is what it is, what it has always been; we are all familiar with it, and we know what to expect. It is socialism. It is a destroyer of nations. What else is new?
But once it has been allowed to overtake the Republican Party, the last wall will have fallen. The final barricade will have been obliterated. There will be nothing left to stand between our nation and its final destruction.
Contrary to the cynicism of some, the Republican Party hasn’t lost its value yet. That’s a fact for which I am representative. But we are not far from it.
Huckabee will be the final nail in the coffin of a party that is dying, both figuratively and literally. Huckabee’s Republican Party and the philosophy of conservatism stand on opposite ends of the political spectrum. It would be nearly comical for us to support him. It would be an admission that we don’t really have beliefs. We only have candidates.
In hijacking his own party, Obama created something that the Republicans will not be able to emulate. Members of the latter have spent a year watching their candidates explain that their beliefs don’t really matter, that it’s “all about winning.” Its party officials have spent a year collaborating with television networks such as Fox, picking and choosing which candidates would be truly allowed to participate in the election.
Republicans voters were bullied into accepting what they were told to accept. The process was humiliating more than it was inspirational.
If Republicans truly believe that Obama represents a strain of radical liberalism that will destroy our nation, they have nothing to fear from him. He will tear our institutions apart, and the stage will be set for a real conservative to take hold in the next presidential election.
But then again, Obama’s liberalism isn’t really what establishment Republicans dislike. Their nomination of Huckabee and acceptance of candidates like McCain and Giuliani have illustrated that socialism doesn’t really bother them. What they are really opposed to is losing. And if embracing socialism is what it takes to win, then they believe it should be done. That has been the party’s singular most prominent principle for the past decade.
It is time to be reminded of what real socialism brings. Obama may or may not do that for us. But above all else, it is time for victory to be taken from those for whom it means the most. It is the only means by which they will be made to stop sacrificing our values for their benefit, and it is necessary if conservatives are to reclaim their own legacy of hope.