The Presidential Race Narrows

by Gordon Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, February 29, 2008

Conservatives vs. McCain


An interesting phenomenon occurred as the slow, lumbering bus full of potential Republican Presidential candidates became the sleek, two-seater sports car. It seems that many conservative leaders did not like the chosen driver of this sports car and, lacking another car in the race, they decided to loosen the lug nuts and sabotage the vehicle. To me, this is the very opposite of the way conservatives should respond.

While I do not deny those leaders the right to express their disappointment, I do believe that they may have lost sight of the basic tenets of conservatism.

Let me explain:

I believe some of today’s conservative leaders may have swallowed the bait of liberalism by believing that their happiness and personal success comes, not from their own individual efforts and achievements, but from some executive in Washington, D.C. As I listen to and read these men and women, who claim to have strong, conservative beliefs, bemoan the fact that ‘their party and conservatism will be destroyed by John McCain’ I have to ask them: “Just how fragile is your party and your vision of conservatism?”

I believe that we need to re-examine the basic tenets of conservatism and realize afresh the proper role of government and the proper response to life’s disappointments.

For example, when we elect a president, we are not electing a man who will come into our homes and make us all comfortable and well fed. He is not the provider of all our wants and needs; he is merely the representative of the executive branch of our three-branch government. While he does indeed hold a very powerful pen that can change the lives of millions, he also has limitations. We must remind ourselves that only one source can truly meet our daily needs and sadly He is not a candidate for this office.

As a conservative, I would love to have a conservative man in the Oval Office, obviously. However, my memory is not so short that I cannot recall the years of the late 70’s when a Southern Baptist from Georgia led our nation. I remember the Misery Index as inflation and interest rates stifled our economy. I remember watching as our citizens were blindfolded and tortured by an Islamic fascist in Iran. I remember living in fear of an imperialist Soviet Union that seemed destined to destroy our nation as it had destroyed others around the globe. It seemed as though the conservative voice was silent. The future was bleak.

Today, the landscape is remarkably different. We have talk radio with many conservative voices. We have conservative publications. We have websites and bloggers dedicated to promoting conservative viewpoints. We have many sources of information that we didn’t have before. Yet, with all this we still have intelligent conservatives (no, that is NOT an oxymoron!) who think that the election of John McCain could ruin or destroy conservatism.

My contention is that true conservatism will not die, because it is based upon the laws of nature, and as long as nature exists, these laws will also exist. The law of supply and demand is one we conservatives tend to rely upon and submit to as the best method to achieve goals. In other words, according to this law, the primary voters will get the supply (candidate) they demand (vote for). It is up to us to create the demand that will ultimately be met by the supply. If we demand a conservative candidate and none is available on the national scale, we, as true conservatives, should work for the candidates on the local and state levels that meet our demands – or become one!

Another law we ascribe to as conservatives is the law of natural selection, or the survival of the fittest. The primary system is designed to shrink the field to one candidate by pitting the prospects against each other in the battle for news coverage, funding and volunteer workers. Now, I will concede that a national primary date would be more effective in allowing every resident of every state to vote for every candidate, rather than the present system in which a few states can pre-determine the choices for most of the others. However, this is the present system and we as conservatives must submit to it and make the best of it until our demands are supplied in the future.

In conclusion, I will not pick up my toys and go home when my chosen candidate removes himself from the race. I will not use my silence as a “message” to those in power, as if I was a betrayed by a spouse. I will not vote for a Democrat to teach a “lesson” to the Republicans. I will vote for the best available candidate, even if it means the classic “lesser of two evils” choice. I will speak passionately about what I believe as long as the Constitution allows me to do so. I will seek out and work for those on the local level who believe as I do. I will trust the One who tells me that He is still sovereign in the affairs of men rather than place my trust in some elected representative. I will continue to pray for the leaders of our nation, as I am commanded to do, whoever they are.