Imagine you are a military commander, fighting in three sectors; in one area you are winning, in another you are holding your own, and in the third you are losing badly.
Question: where should you send your reserve troops?
The surprising (to some) answer is: “Send the reserves to the sector where you are strongest!”
Here’s the rationale: adding force in your winning sector will overwhelm the enemy-and demoralize them. But if you send your reserves where you are losing, your losses will be worse, and your enemy may be encouraged.
What’s the political application of this strategic information? It explains why the ‘new’ Conservatives’ strategy of shifting left and abandoning the moral conservatives probably will not—repeat not—win them the majority they are looking for. It also explains why some conservative bloggers are now writing about “what we should do after we lose the next election.”
Stephen Harper’s policy advisors have given him the same bad advice they gave to Stockwell Day, when he was leader of the Canadian Alliance in the 2000 election: “Stay away from moral issues; compromise and try to draw strength away from the Liberal right; force them further left.”
Much better advice would have been: “Be who you say you are: be truly conservative. Strengthen your conservative bona fides to shore up your core strength-then get out and sell real conservatism to ‘soft’ Liberals.”
That’s what Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher did-and they brought down the Berlin Wall! The two Bush presidencies, alas, have thrown away the core principles of the Reagan Revolution-and as a result, many true conservatives are going to stay home in the next election.
That could happen in Canada, too—unless: unless the true conservative alternative, the CHP, expands its member base and candidate ranks, stands on a hill, and declares, “We’re here! Never mind what the left-liberal big-city media may say: there is a real conservative alternative!”
Indeed, in the U.S. Dr. James Dobson and other conservative Christian leaders have warned the Republican Party that if the GOP chooses a pro-abortion presidential candidate, they’ll support a ‘third-party’ candidate.
It’s going to be a challenge. It’s not easy for a small party to be heard in a lazy media environment that can’t be bothered to fulfill its obligation to inform the electorate about all the alternatives available. But it’s what we must do.
All across Canada, disgruntled social conservatives desperately wish for someone who will stand up for them-oppose abortion, resist the ‘gay’ agenda, and defend democracy and the Constitution against activist judges.
That’s why we have a moral obligation to let as many people as possible know that the CHP truly believes that the immutable truth of the Bible provides the only workable basis for good public policy.
We have at most 23 short months to prepare for a crucial election-maybe only six months; maybe even less. Let’s resolve to do whatever must be done to let pro-life and pro-family voters know they don’t have to hold their nose and choose between Liberal and ‘Liberal Lite’… let’s let them know that there IS an alternative!