Speckhals

To be honest, during college, I wasn’t all that politically involved.  Sure, I voted, and even volunteered for the 2006 elections (poll greeter), and 2008 elections (poll watcher) — both for the GOP, of course.  However, my attention to the news and general state of politics was very minimal.  Basically, I volunteered because I identified myself as both a social and fiscal conservative, so that’s what I thought should do.  If you were to ask me what I was, of course I would say I was a conservative Republican.  I guess you could say I wore the conservative jacket, but it was kind of just an identifier, rather that who I really am.

I remember watching the results come in – Andrea and I knew it was bad when Indiana (the relatively Republican state I resided it at the time) went for Obama.  Earlier, during the Democratic primaries, I recall wishing with everything that Hillary Clinton would not be president when I was married, and especially not when my children were born!  Little did I know that we would end up with this current guy!

I just barely remember hearing about the big, fat stimulus package that was passed in early ’09 – maybe from the Drudge Report or something.  Andrea and I were married soon after I graduated that spring, then we moved to Pennsylvania.  The point I became engaged with politics again was July of ’09.  I remember reading some polls and editorials on Real Clear Politics about the newly evolving “health care” bill being stewed up by the Dems.  Researching more, I became just plain OUTRAGED at the whole idea.  Then I would vent on my poor wife, who became even more of an anti-Obamacare activist than I.  Ahhh!!!

I paid very close attention to the whole ordeal up until the summer recess, when small minority of Republicans courageously stood up to the giant monster of Obama-Reed-Pelosi.  Did I say courageous?  Well, they were.  No question about that.  What happened after that?  Do you remember?  I sure do!  Citizen revolt!  Town hall after town hall, conservatives came out of the woodwork.  I know the Tea Party existed before that, but I remember it really taking off that August.  I had become a Gadsden flag waving Tea Party Conservative!

I never felt so proud as to vote for Todd Platts (my US Congressman), and Pat Toomey (my US Senator) in November 2010, and helping the GOP win the most decisive victory since World War II.  And I am even more excited about being engaged in this election every step, and making sure I cast my ballot for the values which I hold dear.  Mitt Romney is definitely my man for 2012!

With all of that said, and I don’t want to cast a shadow on all of this, I believe the state of our nation is leaning heavily against our conservative values.  And as a whole (though we can definitely slow it), the electorate is moving against us.  Again, I don’t want to sound all doom and gloom — I do think that things can change, and America restored; but, there is a large amount going against us.  In which ways, you may ask?

First, we have to start with our moral fabric.  I may have to save all that I have to say about this for another time, but here is the gist: spiritually, this nation is destitute.  The true believers have become either marginalized or religiously worthless.  The main-line denominations have all pretty much become empty, if not virtually anti-God, and the non-religious are becoming more and more militant against Christianity.

Second, our education system, from preschool to grad school, are vastly, undeniably, and unashamedly liberal (speaking specifically of public education and most higher learning institutions).  Yes, for kids raised in conservative homes, and for some brave young people who can think for themselves, they can resist the influence.  But, if you see the average graduate of either high school or college, they are all for Obama/social justice/appeasement/etc.  What to you expect with a generation of post Madeline Murray-O’Hair classrooms with plenty of former (or current) hippies acting as “educators”, and teaching the student body that the French and Russian Revolutions were the greatest events ever, and that the US is a colonial oppressor?  We’re reaping our wild oats that we sowed in the ’60’s.

Thirdly…um…The media!  For sake of a more thorough review of this topic, please visit Big Journalism.  You won’t be surprised.

Fourthly, there’s all of the demographic changes.  Just look at how the map of our country has changed in the last 20 years or less. You may ask, how does this effect America’s status politically?  Let me give you the state of North Carolina, or just as easily, Virginia and Georgia.  Since the 1980’s these states have been primarily dominated by conservative politicians at the state level.  In the last couple of decades, the economy and quality of living for these states has skyrocketed.  This, of course, creates both blue-collar and white-collar jobs.  Where do white-collar jobs typically come from?  Educated graduates of public or private universities.  Are these places of higher education conservative?  Are they promoters of fiscal responsibility?  I think not.  So, you have a state like North Carolina, with a blossoming private sector, that attracts jobs and people to the state, regardless of political party.  They’ll move to NC for good jobs — this being because the free market prevails — instead of going back to New York or Boston to stand at Occupy rallies, where government snuffs out every possible entrepreneurial motive with big regulations.  Do they change their minds, and all the sudden vote GOP?  Maybe a few, but for the most part, they carry their ideology with them.  This makes states like NC, VA, and GA more and more “purple” politically.  And guess what will happen in the coming years?  They’ll get NYC style regulations, and their economy will become just like where they came from.  It’s funny how this works, huh?

So, where do we, as conservatives, go from here?  Do we give in, and just let this progressive “social Darwinism” take its course?  I think not!  This is the time where we have to be much more engaged.  Don’t just let your kids’ teachers tell them that Obama is the Messiah.  Don’t let your children give in to pressure with the labels disingenuously and wrongly given to them by their guidance counselors (bigot, religious nut, right-winger, etc.).  The more we stand, the stronger we become.  I truly believe that if the average American take time to think about which political persuasion is right, they will choose traditional, American conservatism.  By the way, make sure you vote, and get others to do so as well.