QUESTION: Could you briefly summarize your political history?

RESPONSE: My father served six terms in the North Carolina General Assembly. He passed away and the Governor kindly appointed me as his replacement. I served as chairman of the Davidson County Republican Executive Committee in the early 1970's. In 2002, in a prolonged U.S. Senate primary, I finished second to Elizabeth Dole. It was my good fortune to win the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor in 2004 and to be our standard bearer for Lt. Governor in general election in that year.

QUESTION: The Conservative Mind is a book very rooted in North Carolina, the place and the people. Could you share with us a few of the lessons you learned on your grandparent's farm?

RESPONSE: I enjoyed many days with my mother's parents on their tobacco farm in Wake county. I lived closer to my father's parents, farmers in Davidson county. Each of their families had occupied those lands for one quarter of a millennium. Both families were Southern Baptists and conservative Republicans. The acorn did not fall far...! I daily watched Papa Olive milk cows at dawn, farm tobacco, and milk cows again at dusk. I watched Granddaddy Snyder walk at first light to milk his cows when he was ninety-two. I was taught that conservatives love to work.

QUESTION: How was your political ideology shaped by your childhood experiences?

RESPONSE: In my town of Lexington, my mother required my sister and I to do our chores, and to practice music and wash dishes before breakfast. In the summers we worked "doing something" until lunch. We were never bored and her yard stick ensured that we stayed out of trouble! Our parents required that we attend Sunday school and church and training union. My conservative ideology began in the sandy soil of Wake county and the red clay of Davidson county, extended through those beautiful farms and then to the city where my father was a lawyer and my mother was a teacher. Everything that I have uttered in The Conservative Mind, every word written in any of my books, and every exclamation in my speeches are the sum of the product of my blessed environment.

QUESTION: How has being a North Carolinian and a southerner affected your world views?

RESPONSE: Sandra and I just returned from a vacation far away, celebrating our thirty-ninth year together. As we flew over the Carolinas returning our hearts leaped with joy and were warmed with appreciation "to be home" in the south. With each day I thank God for my southern heritage. A few trips abroad have shown me that it is we who are most blessed to live in our great state and in our great region. Our elementary school teachers were from South Carolina. They talked southern. They insisted on morning devotions and even a song before classes; therefore, I see the world "through southern glasses". Our vision is one of love and compassion. My southern perspective challenges me to spread the gospel of Christ and our moral values while being observant of all traditions. My southern roots preach a balance between overwhelming political and military power to preserve freedom at the one pole and at the other a desire to heal and help feed and assist those less fortunate. A southern heritage will teach a boy to break his nose three times for Coach Bones McKinney at Wake Forest while reserving the right to be a gentleman as were my grandparents. Finally, my southerness fills me with resolve and confidence that there is no better perspective for world leadership than our own.

QUESTION: How does modern conservatism relate to our founding principals?

RESPONSE: Let's get one thing clear, conservatism and founding principals have never changed nor should they ever change. The principals of Lincoln, Reagan, Goldwater, and Helms are based on the Old Testament and the New Testament, on mothers and fathers teaching their children; and, are derived from Sunday school teaching, elementary school teaching, coaches, and many others.
"We hold these truths to be self evident..." announces that truth never ends; that freedom is man's desire; and, that hard work is our birthright.
The blessings of our nation philosophically are rooted not in Washington, Jefferson, or Hamilton but in the political philosophers who preceded them and who schooled them, namely: Paine, Locke, and Hume. God blessed our nation by giving our founding fathers these teachers; then the founding fathers passed on their brilliance via the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, which were the foundations of Lincoln's inexorable dedication to the Union, which preordained the world's last, the world's recent and world's greatest superpower. My great fear is that our superpower might forget the conservative principals of our founders. Each citizen must be awakened and reflect upon the purity of our conservatism, in its constitutional and representative form, which has embellished the nascent dreams of our founders, who proclaimed that it is "we the people," from every hamlet and commonwealth, in whom all power is constituted.

QUESTION: How did Goldwater and Reagan revitalize the American Dream?

RESPONSE: Barry Goldwater was a voice in the wilderness. Most of us conservatives thought that he was "right" and maybe "too right". Then his disciple, Mr. Reagan, with the nod of his head and a wink of his eye, boldly ploughed the languid soil of America, uprooting liberal bias and almost single-handedly revitalizing America.

I was watching the Republican convention which nominated Governor Reagan for President. I was taken by the colors of the red, white and blue as American flags were unfurled in great numbers for the first time in many years. My, it felt good to be an American, and the Reagan revolution had begun. Barry Goldwater had written The Conscience of a Conservative. For fifty years no one had attempted to define and update our views of conservativism. My humble effort in writing The Conservative Mind was an attempt to demonstrate that most good hard working Americans indeed are conservative. And, those who have not need to come on over to our side! Most of my book was a stream of thought dictated continuously for two days. It erupted from our grandfathers' farms and my mother's school room and from my father's constant efforts for conservative causes.
I had the pleasure to view President's Reagan's home in California several months before he passed away; then and now I felt and feel chills of appreciation for our revitalized American spirit, thanks to his perseverance.

QUESTION: How is American liberalism opposed to our founding doctrines?

RESPONSE: Our founding doctrines have always been my conservative philosophical pillars: American sovereignty, our constitution, and less government.
Jefferson said that all men are created equal. The American liberal believes that all men and women are cursed to remain equal. Thus their egalitarian philosophy. Conservatives believe that all men and women are created equal- but just watch us as we rocket to become the best and the most that we can be. Christ cursed the servant who berried his talents. The conservative believes that those who are blessed are bound and responsible to use their talents to achieve, to take risks, to build businesses, to create jobs, and be leaders. In chapter three of The Conservative Mind entitled The Liberal Mindset: Dispelling the Truth Appears, "The liberal timorous mindset does disgorge the truth. But the truth cannot be hidden from an audacious people. Americans want to work hard, Americans want to serve their country...liberals do not trust America to be the world's leader or even to be the leader of the free world... The truth is that most Americans do not share the liberal philosophy. The truth is that most Democrats do not share the liberal philosophy; the truth is that, unfortunately, there is an over abundance of liberal obdurate democratic leaders. The truth is that capricious liberal ideologues likely are to assume leadership positions because of their narcissism and aggressiveness."
Most importantly the American liberal does not understand that we must never cede our autonomy to any nation or consortium of nations. Conservatives understand that we must endure and resist any agency which would seek to interdict American sovereignty.

QUESTION: How is American liberalism related to the failed and deadly philosophies of the French Revolution, Nazism, Fascism, and Communism if at all?

RESPONSE: This is where the rubber meets the road in our struggle as conservatives. In France, Germany, and Russia the liberals preached that guns would kill, so the people gave their guns to Hitler, Stalin, et al. We conservatives have learned our lesson. We understand that the seat of political and ultimate power must derive from the American home, the American militia, and the American ballot box. We must never trust our leaders or our military absent the autonomy of the citizen.
The American liberal is perniciously trusting. The American conservative knows his history. We revere our Constitution and our American government and our fine military; but, we will never, never, never relinquish the sovereignty of the individual. Again, the liberal timorous mindset disgorges this truth, but truth cannot be hidden from a conservative votary.
The heart of conservative philosophy is an understanding that evil is ubiquitous and that its ugly tentacles can invade the halls of any once righteous government. The liberal will lay down the sword of the individual as well as the sword of our great nation in the name of pacifism. No one loves peace more than the conservative and no one understands better than we that peace is best sustained through overwhelming American power.

QUESTION: How important is Americanism - our unique American culture that places our nation as the apex of western civilization in our role as the most powerful economic, military and humanitarian force in the world?

RESPONSE: Frankly, I don't trust any nation of the world to be the world's superpower other than America. The reason is that no other nation in the world has schooled her citizens in the precepts of constitutional republican government, the blessings of liberty and the importance of the guiding hand of Almighty God in the lives of her peoples as has America; accordingly, if there is going to be a finger on the trigger of the military of the world it must always and forever be an American finger.
America can remain sovereign and the strongest nation of the world; however, it will not without a vibrant, strong and expanding economy. A strong economy requires the freedom of the individual to invest and aspire, to initiate businesses. The true conservative abhors an erroneous tax system which berates and discourages investment and savings and which recklessly limits defense spending. However, make no mistake, power is good in the hands of a good and peaceful people. Yet these peaceful people must not be craven and resistant to use defensively and offensively overwhelming military force to preserve American lives and freedom, and, as best we can, to spread our blessed way of life. It is our individual duty, as well, to effect, as well as we can, in the name of the Lord God and all that is right, humanitarian assistance.
We are destined, and we are challenged to bow before that destiny which is forfeitable without consciousness of founding Republican philosophies and adherence to constitutional purity and forces which altogether justly and righteously will sustain this world's last great trust of liberty, these United States of America.

QUESTION: What role does Christianity play in the doctrinal principals of Americanism?

RESPONSE: Every decision we make individually and collectively should be guided by the sound moral principals of Christ and the firm admonitions of the God of the Old Testament. We Americans are challenged to observe the utter dependence of our mighty nation on the sanctity of Almighty God. We must not forget his power over our persons and over the freedoms of our republic, which owns itself solely and resolutely in His inexorable will.
And, we must be observant of our constitution and the free right of all of our citizens to worship as they desire while also acknowledging that sacred constitutional responsibility to revere the spilled blood of our fathers, who's prayer, "in God we trust" is emblazoned on our nation's portals and forged within our national soul. In the end, Americans must be able to worship as they please or even, regrettably, not to worship, if they please.

QUESTION: What is America's role as a leader of nations?

RESPONSE: We must not be a bully. We must not abuse our power. We must seek and gain the respect of nations- whose intentions and precepts are sound and true, but never at a price of forfeiting our sovereignty. Leadership demands an assertive and commanding will, sacrificially wielded.

QUESTION: How can we reconcile America's leadership role with a United Nations that places our nation on par with dictatorships and militarily weak, socialistic nations of Europe?

RESPONSE: Even Barry Goldwater affirmed that there was a place for the United Nations- a place to meet and attempt to work together. No mistake should be made, however, which would lead us to forfeit our sovereignty or to yield to any group of nations which would seek to preclude the right effectation of our power to protect our borders and even to move aggressively internationally in a manner which would position ourselves to eviscerate the threat of terrorism toward ourselves and even the world.
France was our ally during our revolution; England is with us today; and Germany has been anally in NATO. But American conservatives know that as a nation we must manifest a humble character, but always bedded within medaled armor and guarded by the flashing swords of our unfettered armed services. Sometimes we must go it alone!

BULLET POINTS:

NATIONAL DEFENSE:

At one time Great Britain determined that her navy be stronger than the next seven navies in the world. I believe that that is an excellent precept for the totality of our military during these challenging times.







TAXES:

The tentacles of local, state, and federal taxation are strangling the average hard working American mother and father. Less government equates to lower taxes. More efficient government equates to less government and lower taxes.

HEALTH CARE:

Most Americans who work can afford to pay for some basic medical care. We must dispel the mindset which causes us to believe that all of us should receive all health care without individual payment. The cost of processing insurance and government payments for health care is bankrupting our system. Certainly the indigent and poor must be cared for and full quality care must be made available generally. However, many of us can pay for basic care. And the over 40 million uninsured must be required to demonstrate insurance with the same force and effect as are required to report our income taxes.

EDUCATION:

We are testing our children and our teachers to extinction. Over forty days during each scholastic year are required for testing our young people. Our teachers do not have time to teach. To solve the dropout problem we can tell Johnny and Mary that they cannot drop out... that they must stay in school until they are 18!

SOCIAL SECURITY:

Three fourths of our investment should be guaranteed to be returned to us with one fourth potentially forfeited for those less fortunate. We should be able to save an unlimited amount for retirement and at retirement to make unlimited sums and still receive retirement benefits during our senior years. We must invest in each child born a modest amount as was proposed in the Snyder Retirement Security Plan which would ensure that the generation born today will have an unchallenged fund for retirement.

MILITARY:

We must spend whatever is required to remain preeminent, and we must spare whatever sacrifice is required to ensure our freedom and sovereignty.

THE RIGHT TO BARE ARMS:

We must never surrender to the American liberal our right to bare arms including our right to concealed carry.





THE AMERICAN WORKER:

The American man and woman are the hardest workers in the world. He and she work 80 hours each year more than the average worker in Europe. While European workers vacation, we provide for their defense. It doesn't have to be that way; but, if it is that way, so be it- because it is worth it to us to exercise American control and power for all the right purposes.

LOCAL POLITICAL CONTROL:

Recent years have demonstrated persistence by Washington not only to meddle in local affairs governmentally but also to seek autonomy in local affairs politically. Washington is selecting our senators and is siphoning funds from gubernatorial, counsel at state, state senator and representative races. We conservatives must voice our objection even to those of our own party who would so dictate our parochial political affairs. We have enough sense to elect whom we desire without Washington's imprimatur or selectivity.

CONSERVATION:

Conservatives are for conservation. While acknowledging that many international treaties would be unfair to American interests, we must seek to find ways to ensure that this precious earth will be in great condition for our children and grandchildren. Cro-Magnon man lived 280,000 and became extinct. We have lived almost that same number of years; and, God help us if we destroy His beautiful earth and the ability of the spirit of mankind to exist and flourish.