Recent events in the political world have shown that Conservatives have a long way to start winning elections and form governments. In The United Kingdom we saw the demise of a Prime Minister within weeks of being chosen, in the United States the Republicans have been unable to rest power from the Democrats despite a collapsing economy and many other scandals. Closer to home, Canada has a new opposition conservative leader at the federal level, in Alberta we saw the exit of a conservative leader to be replaced by another, who seems to be having difficulties in expressing and implementing her agenda. The question is why are conservatives so unsuccessful?
When I wrote my book Conservatives: Dead or Alive? I thought that perhaps I had concluded that conservatives would have learned a lesson in the art of political failure. Over the years conservatives have been unable to rest power from the left for very long and they have seen their place in the political arena dwindle. They continue to oppose with no alternative ideas when they are not in power, but when they win, they compromise their principles believing that it will gain them more votes in future to stay in power.
The media has been the left’s greatest ally. It is becoming apparent as events unfold in the United States, that collusion between the media and the left is rampant. Furthermore, as Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter. releases some damaging information about election interference, the public is becoming aware that even the judiciary and security forces are in cahoots with the left. The influence of social media and mainstream media in shaping elections for the left has taken a new life. The bias in the media is so apparent that the public has lost faith in what was supposed to be the last bastion of oversight, as it has become an arm of a political party supported by government funding in some cases.
Most of all Conservatives never learn from their enemies. Sun Tzu in the Art of War said: “Know thy enemy. Know thyself”. The left has been very adept hat manipulating election rules. They have increased the use of mail in ballots, mobilize their base with the help of many NGOs and Unions. The left has spent massive amounts of taxpayers’ money to fund motherhood and apple pie programs that cannot be easily reversed. They have been able to muzzle dissension using divisive ‘hate laws. Today it is more difficult for conservatives to express an opinion without being accused of racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Nazism and other harmful epithets. In effect the left has redefined the definition of freedom of speech. In addition, when in power the left has been able to appoint the judiciary which is favourable to their ideology.
Since it seems that it is an uphill battle for conservatives, what can they do to regain power? The first thing is that they must have good policies based on common sense conservative principles. Conservatives must recognize that their basic role is to protect its citizens, ensure economic growth and defend the freedom of speech. They must stop conservative cannibalism, as they continuously fight each other. The Republicans who just won a majority in the House are still arguing who should be the Speaker. In Alberta conservatives are still fighting who should the leader be, despite the fact that a new one was recently elected. Leaders come and go; supporters must accept that it is the nature of things to change. When conservatives regain power, they must ensure that elections rules are revised to bring back the integrity of the ballot box. The use of mail in ballots must be reduced to the bare minimum for only special circumstances. Voting hours must be strictly adhered to, with some advance voting in person. We must ensure that the use of technology is for the greater good and not subject to possible fraud.
I just hope that conservatives hire better strategists than their predecessors. In order to gain power, Conservative must most of all take a page from the left, first stick together like glue and next “Do on to others before they do it to you”
