Can we sell conservatism in the foreseeable future?

There is simply no way to sell conservatism to people anymore; people have other values now. Obama has fulfilled left-wing dreams that go back decades, bringing universal health insurance to a once-limited government, outlawing Catholics from owning businesses and getting rewarded with four more years for doing so. I can only tremble to wonder what Valerie Jarrett meant when she said that Obama’s second term will be about punishing their enemies, if this is what they have already done.

The Republican Party lost multiple unloseable elections (see Mourdock, Akin, Romney). They did not merely let winnable elections slip away, but actively gave them to Democrats, a situation much more heartbreaking than the narrow defeats of 2010. At best, the Republican Party has even more cautionary tales for its younger members, more examples of what not to do, but that is small consolation for two more years of Obama and Reid. In the same way, the only good that will come out of this for the country is suffering, which is the greatest teacher. The Democrats will continue to show us what does not work.

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