One thing people on the Right could learn from the Left: stop treating elections and court cases as either total victories or final defeats. The battle for truth, justice, and the American Way is never-ending. Never let either friends or foes convince you otherwise.
Granted, there is far too much centralized coercive power in our system, so a lot of bad things can happen after a national election. The stakes are always high - much *too* high for a constitutional republic of sovereign citizens.
But generally speaking, the Left has long been better about using power when they have it, and redoubling their efforts to regain power after they lose it. The Right is more susceptible to all-is-lost fatalism and hopelessness born of deep (and often justified) cynicism.
Left-wing groups are more likely to see themselves as fighting endless crusades. If they lose an election, it means the voters were wrong and must be re-educated or punished, or the election was stolen by the dastardly Republicans. They never question their righteousness.
That's the level of commitment to cause that you must be ready to contend with if you're hoping conservative beliefs will prevail. In fact, even greater commitment is required, because too much of our corrupt political and media system inherently favors collectivism.
The most important thing to do after an election setback is stand tall, raise your voice, and let the vast number of people who agree with you know they're not alone. Resist the Left's efforts to make you feel marginalized and isolated. Show conviction and assert your strength.
Never let the Left and its media convince you that your beliefs and issues were permanently defeated at the ballot box, rather than a few candidates. They would NEVER accept that argument themselves, so why should you accept it from them?
It's especially important to show your determination after the bizarre 2020 election, which was turned into a straight up/down referendum on one man's personality, while the other candidate hid in his basement. Not many people voted "for" Joe Biden. Never lose sight of that.
Of course, the Left will never for a moment act as if they have some limited mandate, an asterisk next to the narrow win because of unusual circumstances and widespread reports of voting irregularities, as they would absolutely insist Republicans do under similar circumstances.
They'll act as if they have an absolute mandate to restructure American society, rewrite the Constitution, and reorder the national economy to their liking. They would act that way if they won by ten votes. Limited "mandates" are only discussed when Republicans win.
Those assertions from the Left are laughable in the face of the stealth Biden campaign, high levels of voter satisfaction with Trump's actual job performance, stunning GOP victories in Congress, the unique Covid disaster, and just about everything voters said about the issues.
Leave all the arguments about election shenanigans aside, and you still have the indisputable fact that Biden won only because some lazy voters in key states who couldn't name one of their own senators filled in one bubble on a mail-in ballot, because ORANGE MAN BAD.
It's the weakest "victory" in memory, and you can rest assured Dems will annoy the hell out of people by overplaying their hand. Speak up and stand strong on issues, on beliefs, on everything larger and deeper than a single election. You have every reason to be confident.
Demonstrating confidence, conviction, and sincerity will have immediate benefits. For starters, it will convince wavering Democrats from swing states to pump the brakes on their party's worst instincts. They don't have as many wobblies as the GOP - if only! - but they have a few.
Along the same lines, standing tall and strong will reinforce the spines of Republicans prone to caving and making deals, especially if they see a good midterm election coming over the horizon. They won't stand up for you if you don't stand up for yourself.
Also, it should be clear to everyone by now that a great deal of political power in America has shifted to mega-corporations. This is a time to raise your voice before any more corporate boardrooms start hatching plans to shove leftism down your throat.
If you want a political party that stands strong for your beliefs, you must be a constituency they want to fight for, and give them a destination they can reach. This will help the party find better candidates, and develop the best of them into national contenders.
Republicans were saddled with a string of surrender caucuses and gentleman loser candidates because they got the idea that's where their constituents were at - exhausted, demoralized, marginalized, hoping for nothing better than decent terms of surrender.
Beltway culture and the media blast that message into the skulls of every Republican candidate that gets anywhere near Washington. They see only a funhouse-mirror reflection of the people who voted for them. Your challenge is to shatter those mirrors.
Lastly, realize as the Left did long ago that groundwork is necessary for the big political battles. Fight for the local issues and candidates, fight for control of institutions outside government that nevertheless shape politics, network with each other. BUILD.
Be populist and subversive, as the Left was during its march to power, every step of the way. Call their bluffs, challenge their legitimacy, and never again let anyone trick you into thinking moral debates and social issues are "toxic." What a hideous mistake that was!
Running from moral and social issues made conservatives look insincere, like they didn't passionately believe in their causes the way win-at-all-costs, hyper-moralizing leftist crusaders do. It made conservatism look not reasonable, but passive and disconnected from daily life.
If you really treasure your beliefs, you want to share that treasure. If you really mean what you say, you don't fall silent after losing one election tussle in an endless struggle. You can't be persuasive until you seem convinced yourself. That's our challenge in new year.
The absolutely worst thing you can do is throw up your hands, exclaim that all elections are rigged forever so there's no point in even trying to compete, withdraw in despair, and hope the public rises up someday. That's what the Left wants you to do, more than anything.
It's not what THEY would do. They scream that every election they lose was stolen - but they didn't withdraw from politics to protest the "rigged system," did they? On the contrary, they went to war with renewed energy, fighting both above and below board, all in.
Yes, the rules are different for us - we don't control the media, we don't have the permanent bureaucracy on our side, we don't get to shriek about stolen elections for two years and then sit on media panels as respected experts in How Elections Cannot Possibly Be Stolen.
But you can learn a bit about motivation and determination by watching the Left and seeing how they utterly reject the notion that any electoral setback, from squeakers to landslides, means their IDEAS have been defeated forever. They get the "never-ending battle" idea. /end
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