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The state of conservatism

November 14, 2008 | By Nathaniel Ward

The conservative movement remains strong in America today, despite the recent election results, Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner said Monday.

"The pillars that hold up conservatism," he told President's Club members at the Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., "are not crumbling."

The conservative movement still encompasses all the differing schools that it has encompassed since World War II. But those differences haven't crippled us with division and strife. Conservatives are working cooperatively, in larger networks than ever before.

Despite the results of the election, America remains essentially a center-right nation, with a conservative outlook on core issues.

Conservatives today command enormous resources for presenting and defending our ideas. The underlying conservative sentiments of the American people offer the potential for those ideas to take root.

But realizing that potential is a huge challenge. Both political parties have failed us, but the greatest default lies with the Republican Party. It failed not by embracing the wrong principles but by abandoning its principles — conservative principles.

That is why The Heritage Foundation has embarked on our 10-year Leadership for America campaign. Now more than ever, we must stand by our principles and teach them to the widest possible audience. We must revive broader understanding and respect for the timeless truths that are the foundations of American life.

» Read the rest of Dr. Feulner's remarks online.

— David Talbot

'A clarifying time'

This is "a clarifying time for the conservative movement in America and a clarifying time for the Republican Party," Rep. Mike Pence told a Heritage Foundation audience Monday.

While the Indiana Congressman said he believes conservatives are politically "in the wilderness," they should not be demoralized or discouraged.

» Find out why Rep. Pence is optimistic about the conservative movement.

Conservatism's rising stars

To reach the next generation of Americans, Weekly Standard blogger and Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham said Monday, the conservative movement needs Internet-savvy marketers and a "hip-to-be-square" attitude modeled on President Reagan and William F. Buckley.

Speaking at a discussion about the future of the conservative movement with Young President's Club members, she argued that young conservatives have work to do to strengthen their generation's commitment to conservative ideas.

» Read more on MyHeritage.org.

— David Talbot

Other Heritage work of note

  • Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) praised The Heritage Foundation at the President's Club meeting this week. "If we did not have The Heritage Foundation," he said, "we would have to immediately create it."
  • "Conservatism was not defeated," talk radio host Bill Bennett told President's Club members Monday, "because it was not offered." Conservative ideas were not really on the ballot, since the presidential candidates failed to offer conservative solutions on taxes.
  • The Left wants to push through another "stimulus" package. Writing in the Wall Street Journal today, Heritage's Brian Riedl explains why this won't work. "Every dollar it injects into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. No new spending power is created. It's merely redistributed from one group of people to another."

In other news

  • Capitol Hill newspaper Congressional Quarterly reports (no link available) that the economic crisis may compel Congressional liberals to delay enacting their radical cap-and-tax global warming proposal. Perhaps liberals now recognize that such government micromanagement of the economy might have economic consequences.
  • The Supreme Court overturned a radical court decision that put our national security second to misguided environmental concerns. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had blocked the Navy from conducting certain underwater sonar tests because of the sound's effects on whales.
  • Treasury Secretary Paulson says the Treasury won't use the $700 billion bailout check to bail out the "troubled assets" the money was originally approved for. Instead, the money may be directed to consumer credit.

Upcoming webcasts

All webcasts will be shown live on MyHeritage.org. Recordings will be available for online viewing after the event concludes.

  • On Tuesday, November 18 at 1:50 p.m. Eastern, Karl Rove will explain the 2008 elections and how they impact the future of the conservative movement at an event sponsored by the Dallas/Fort Worth Committee for Heritage. Rove is a Fox News contributor who served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush.

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage's website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.

  • On Monday, November 17 at 11:00 a.m., William Graham, Chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, will discuss the security threat posed by an EMP attack.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. David Talbot contributed to this report.