Why we need a third socially conservative party in America
I want to begin by saying that I am not necessarily advocating this view nor do I think it likely to actually happen any time soon. I do however want to argue that creating a third party with a socially conservative platform could actually help further the Pro-life, Pro-Family cause.
I know what most of you are thinking. How could splitting the conservative vote possibly do any good? Wouldn’t that hand the Democrats victories in just about every race outside Alaska? The answer is no because this assumption is based on the belief that the vote would split 25% to the conservatives 25% to the Republicans and 50% to the Democrats which is not what would happen. The reality is if the Republican Party split into two parties, the moderate wing would steal a good deal of the Democratic vote.
By jettisoning the more radical elements of the party, many more moderate Democrats and independents would feel comfortable voting for this new ‘centre’ party. The moderates could focus more on fiscal conservatism which appeals to many independent and right leaning Democrats and not be weighed down by advocating on social issues. It’s likely that the moderate party would still be Pro life and Pro family at its core, but it wouldn't need to emphasize these issues making it far more palatable to the average left wing voter.
Of course common sense would seem to suggest that the far right would lose more voters to the center than the far left would because it originated from a split in the conservative side of politics but I don’t actually think this is the case. This is because I think there is actually a massive disconnect between the Republican establishment and the majority of Republican voters. The people on the ground are more conservative than those leading the party, recent Tea Party primary victories have proven this. I think there is good reason to believe that if there was a split, a majority of the parties base would actually break right, including most of the party’s ground game organisers.
This new conservative party would also have a chance to reach out to Reagan Democrats and socially conservative Hispanics and Blacks in a way the current libertarian influenced Republican Party can’t. By shaping itself as the party of the people it could in fact eat into the Democratic base.
In response the Democratic Party would have two options to try and secure its position. The 1st is to move right to compete with the new center party which is objectively a good thing, the other is to move even further left in order to motivate their base, a move I believe which would only alienate them further from moderates and independents.
The underlying thinking here is that while social conservatives may not be a majority any more, they may be the biggest third. If we can no longer win elections under the status-quo, we need to change the game. By making it a three horse race we would no longer need to win over a majority of voters, instead we would only need to convince over 34% of people to take the White House. And when we do win, we would have true conservatives with a mandate to appoint true Pro-Life judges and introduce strong Pro-Family legislation.
Conservatives at the moment are being marginalized both nationally and within the Republican Party. We need a game changer and the creation of a third party may just be the change we can believe in.
I know what most of you are thinking. How could splitting the conservative vote possibly do any good? Wouldn’t that hand the Democrats victories in just about every race outside Alaska? The answer is no because this assumption is based on the belief that the vote would split 25% to the conservatives 25% to the Republicans and 50% to the Democrats which is not what would happen. The reality is if the Republican Party split into two parties, the moderate wing would steal a good deal of the Democratic vote.
By jettisoning the more radical elements of the party, many more moderate Democrats and independents would feel comfortable voting for this new ‘centre’ party. The moderates could focus more on fiscal conservatism which appeals to many independent and right leaning Democrats and not be weighed down by advocating on social issues. It’s likely that the moderate party would still be Pro life and Pro family at its core, but it wouldn't need to emphasize these issues making it far more palatable to the average left wing voter.
Of course common sense would seem to suggest that the far right would lose more voters to the center than the far left would because it originated from a split in the conservative side of politics but I don’t actually think this is the case. This is because I think there is actually a massive disconnect between the Republican establishment and the majority of Republican voters. The people on the ground are more conservative than those leading the party, recent Tea Party primary victories have proven this. I think there is good reason to believe that if there was a split, a majority of the parties base would actually break right, including most of the party’s ground game organisers.
This new conservative party would also have a chance to reach out to Reagan Democrats and socially conservative Hispanics and Blacks in a way the current libertarian influenced Republican Party can’t. By shaping itself as the party of the people it could in fact eat into the Democratic base.
In response the Democratic Party would have two options to try and secure its position. The 1st is to move right to compete with the new center party which is objectively a good thing, the other is to move even further left in order to motivate their base, a move I believe which would only alienate them further from moderates and independents.
The underlying thinking here is that while social conservatives may not be a majority any more, they may be the biggest third. If we can no longer win elections under the status-quo, we need to change the game. By making it a three horse race we would no longer need to win over a majority of voters, instead we would only need to convince over 34% of people to take the White House. And when we do win, we would have true conservatives with a mandate to appoint true Pro-Life judges and introduce strong Pro-Family legislation.
Conservatives at the moment are being marginalized both nationally and within the Republican Party. We need a game changer and the creation of a third party may just be the change we can believe in.