A New Ground Game: A Conservative Road Map for Winning the Culture War and Taking America Back from the Brink of Ruin

Is it possible, or even likely, that conservatives can win elections in the age of Obama? Yes. Does it mean abandoning the Republican party in the hope that it will dissolve or be subsumed by a new party? No. Does it mean all conservatives must become Republicans? No. Does it mean Republicans can win without Independents, Libertarians, and Tea Party activists? No. Can Republicans win if they write off Democrat voters as being beyond the pale?No. The bottom line is, conservatives can win if they think of their activism in terms of education and coalition-building rather than party, identity, or ideological loyalty. 

Across the electoral spectrum, there is a growing awareness among the people that our current leadership in Washington has been, and is continuing, to lead America toward financial, economic, and international ruin. Disgust of the status quo is widespread, and the forecast offers much of the same. Conservative policies are not driving public policy. Therefore, the ruin is not attributable to conservative activism. Moreover, conservative solutions to America's economic problems are the only solutions verifiable with historic results. This state of affairs offers fertile soil for conservative grassroots to flourish. There are several steps conservatives can take if they want to succeed in taking back the soul of the American people from the big spenders and government growers who are threatening our liberty and prosperity.

Step 1: Wage our Cause in the Classrooms and Lecture-Halls 

Through like-minded proxies in the entertainment and academic world, liberals have waged an astonishingly successful war to assimilate the hearts and minds of generations of Americans. Public school teachers and textbooks have trumpeted the achievements of liberal presidents and liberal activists throughout history. Print and televised media outlets from the New York Times to ABC liberalize news coverage before it gets presented to the people.

Conservatives are getting their message out in talk radio, Fox News television channels, and through internet sites. But this is not enough. What is stopping conservative groups from obtaining the necessary permits for speaking engagements at college campuses, and not just at the big, media-attracting arenas like Columbia and Princeton? 

Why not seek out activists across the country, and help them organize rallies and other types of speaking events at local colleges? Would this cost much? It depends on how it is done, but let's consider the billions raised by GOP during the 2012 primaries and in the general election. Now, let's ponder how many of these billions were dumped on television ads, only to be skipped by DVR-equipped viewers wanting to get back to Jersey Shore or Monday night football. Would it have been worth it to have spent some of those billions on funding activist projects at college campuses? At the least, the GOP would have had everyday people shaking hands with everyday people, listening to their concerns, and explaining conservative principles in ways both understandable and attractive. If the GOP and other conservative groups want the people's support, they must invest in the people.

The people, broadly speaking, are in need information about true conservatism. The under-forty's out there have no memory of Reagan or Gingrich-led prosperity. A forty year-old in 2012 was seventeen when Reagan retired from the presidency. How politically aware do you think he or she was in high school, when they were getting their driver's licenses, chasing girls/boys, and preparing for the prom? Today, the under-forty's think conservatism reigned in the Bush II years. All they know is: it failed. 

Plausibly, President Bush handed the country to Obama in much worse shape than he found it in. What the people don't know is, in all the ways Bush failed America, he departed from conservative principles. There was nothing conservative about the Bush-backed mortgage-lending policies that wrecked the economy in 2008. There was nothing conservative about the $4 trillion in new debt Bush saddled the country with. But Republicans are loath to speak frankly about this out of partisan loyalty. In so doing, they are only contributing to the partisan fog that shields the people from learning the truth about what roads we've taken that have led to where we are now. 

In desperation, the people turned to someone from the other party, hoping for a change. That's the spirit that put Obama in power, has kept him there since, and has made 51% of the electorate unwilling to give the party of Bush another chance. If the people are equipped to understand that conservative solutions haven't had a hand in the road-to-ruin we're on, they will give conservative solutions a chance. Why not? They're desperately looking for something different than what they've had the last twelve years. 

Imagine conservative groups investing in education and bringing it to the youth of our country. How can this be done? Like all people throughout the ages, people of means have never relied on public (i.e. government) schools to educate their children. Private tutors and private institutions provide an outlet. In our present age of high unemployment among qualified educators, exploding class-sizes and fewer services due to budget cuts, horrified parents in ever greater numbers have opted to put their children in private schools (if they can afford it), charter schools (if they have the option), or home-school (last resort).

Many of these parents are of the patriotic sort and have no faith in government education. Those who home-school their children are looking for good resources to use. What is stopping conservative groups from partnering with like-minded educators (many recent graduates are looking for work and are willing except employment in a non-traditional educational venture) and forming virtual schools to deliver a quality education for home-schooled children? This would provide an opportunity to teach real history; real civics; the truth about what America is supposed to be about; the truth about the U.S. Constitution. (At same time, these virtual schools can also teach critical-needs subjects as well.) 

What is stopping conservative educators from writing 4th grade language arts stories that do not demonize business people and simultaneously glorify people who are more in tune with "the earth"?  There's nothing wrong with teaching the morals of cleaning-up after ourselves and conserving natural resources, but what's wrong with teaching the practical virtues of getting a job that can support a family instead footing that bill to others in the community who are doing it more self-sufficiently? Is this moral not worth a short story in an elementary school reading lesson? 

Educational outreach can be delivered in a multitude of ways, but 21st century parents and students, many of them possessing cutting-edge digital technology are looking for new options. There is a need to be met and there is nothing barring conservative activists and like-minded educators from engaging in this cultural front. 

The entertainment world is much harder for conservatives to do something about, but we can stand behind celebrities (like Phil Mickelson) who periodically speak out against the crushing taxation their state subjects them to. We don't have to buy movie theater tickets to support the latest Matt Damon film that promotes falsehoods about the fracking industry. 

Academia will change from the bottom-up (through educational outreach to the youth before they get into college) and from empowering college students with the knowledge to challenge the liberal propaganda being fed to them by their professors. What is stopping conservative educators from writing history books telling the truth - or a more balanced approximation - about America through the ages? What is stopping them from promoting these books at speaking engagements at college campuses, and putting these books in the hands of students willing to challenge their professors with this newly acquired knowledge? 

In sum, conservatives have long ago conceded educational forums and media outlets to liberal activists. By throwing their hats into this ring, conservatives can begin changing American culture in the homes and campuses across the nation. 

Patriot Thought