What Does It Mean to Be a Conservative?

By Matthew Dragonette

 

There’s no doubt that conservatives are in retreat. The combination of electoral defeats, ineffectual Congressional leadership and progressives’ rising popularity has taken its toll on conservativism. And now with the ascendancy of right-wing populism on the back of Donald Trump, conservatism has been thrown into a chaos not seen since before the rise of William F. Buckley.

Conservatives have failed to focus on their core principles and struggled to maintain a cohesive identity. In numerous states, Trump won among conservatives and moderates alike. Certainly, he appealed to conservatives concerned about immigration, political correctness, and business experience. But the fact is, Trump is not a conservative and has implied as much throughout the campaign. The fact that conservatives could not demonstrate this simple fact shows that term “conservative” has been stretched to a near-breaking point.

In the short term, some conservatives may rally around a third-party candidate. But if conservatism is to flourish, conservatives need to have a difficult conversation focused on question: What does it mean to be a conservative in American politics?

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Articles: What Does It Mean to Be a Conservative?