Constitutional Conservatism

Peter Berkowitz has a good opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal.  It is entitled "Conservatives Can Unite Around the Constitution".  He writes about how the various groups normally considered on the conservative side of the political spectrum can unite around the U.S. Constitution.  The 2008 election showed that the Right is pretty broken apart in different interest groups such as social conservatives, libertarians, abortion foes, etc.  Under the current alignment, the Right got crushed, big time.  He writes that all is not lost, though.  The U.S. Constitution can help!

"...conservatives of all stripes would be well advised to concentrate their attention on the constitutional order and the principles that undergird it, because maintaining them should be their paramount political priority."

"A constitutional conservatism puts liberty first and teaches the indispensableness of moderation in securing, preserving and extending its blessings."

The opinion piece is worth serious consideration by the Right if they can get their assorted heads out of the sand and actually think about the future.

Mr. Berkowitz writes that the two biggest blocks on the right, the Religious Right and the Libertarians, destroy each other by demanding party purity based on their OWN ideas.  That leads to continued losses.

"But the purists in both camps ignore simple electoral math. Slice and dice citizens' opinions and voting patterns in the 50 states as you like, neither social conservatives nor libertarian conservatives can get to 50% plus one without the aid of the other."

He is correct.  These two factions of the Right have been killing each other for decades and giving victories to the liberals.  It needs to stop!  This is where the good old U.S. Constitution can help.

"The principles are familiar: individual freedom and individual responsibility, limited but energetic government, economic opportunity and strong national defense. They are embedded in the Constitution and flow out of the political ideas from which it was fashioned."

Mr. Berkowitz provides a very real path to political victory in the future.  Go read his piece.  It is absolutely worthwhile and well written.  I like where he's headed.