In era of Obama, no new Reagans allowed

In era of Obama, no new Reagans allowed

Posted: December 06, 2008
1:00 am Eastern
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82828

© 2008

I have noticed a common theme in the media lately: Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate is being portrayed as the bane of the GOP – the single-handed destroyer of the McCain campaign who should retire into political oblivion.

Why is this an ongoing message, with even some so-called Republicans pushing it?

I believe it is because Gov. Palin resonated with conservatives nationwide in a way that caught the mainstream (read: not-so-clandestinely liberal) media completely off guard. They don't want her, or anyone like her, to rise up as the exciting future of conservative politics; they want no new-generation Reagan gaining steam in the era of Obama.

So what's the problem with Mrs. Palin in the eyes of the media? I believe she has intimidated them. She's young, she's an unashamed Christian, and she resonates with countless women as a working mom who embraces pro-life and pro-traditional family positions.

This is not the accepted dynamic of the modern political woman – certainly not the type the mainstream promotes. And therein lies the allure of Sarah Palin to conservatives. She is the embodiment of the political nonconformist – the outsider who has a history of being not only a maverick (and not simply as a catchphrase) but an effective reformer.


As such, she will continue to face what I see as an intentionally deceptive depiction from the mainstream media that she is a lightweight, a political pretender whose supposed ambitions outweigh her capabilities.

And to such criticism, I hope she continues to say, "So what!"

Who cares what the media and the left think, anyway? Gov. Palin's values are not going to be accepted by Big Media or by Capitol Hill's entrenched insiders who seek out yes men to carry out their tired political visions. I would suggest that she shouldn't even try to make inroads into those shallow worlds. (She's done pretty well on her own, anyway.)

It's time for real change. As such, it is time for conservatives to join together and redesign their playbook so that it hearkens back to the days of Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America." Sure, they'll be scoffed at, but that will be the price of standing up to the fashionable left.

As Christians living in an increasingly secular world, we face these types of challenges every day. You see, the very foundations of what we believe – from our conviction in how the world was created to how it will one day end – are constantly disputed by the purveyors of accepted "truth." Even in the Republican Party, we – the religious right – are often covertly whispered about and laughed at (until election time, conveniently).

But conservative people of faith continue to be the solid backbone of the Republican Party, whether some of its leaders want to admit it, or not.

"Conservatism, real conservatism, resonates with heartland America, and wins elections," said Christopher G. Adamo in a GOPUSA commentary this week. He added, "The people of this country have little interest in a Republican Party that seeks to define itself as a milder and cheaper version of the societal dissolution and erosion of American greatness offered by the opposition."

Thankfully, there are people who still understand this, and Sarah Palin is one of them. There are other rising conservative stars on the horizon (Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Eric Cantor of Virginia, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and others) who can communicate economic and social solutions that counter the policies of the left. Our friend Mike Huckabee is also telling everyone that the November losses by Republicans mean that the party must return to its conservative roots.

I believe millions of Americans are anxious to find vocal leaders to usher in a new day for conservatism.

However, the conservative leaders who do come to the fore must realize two important facts: 1) they are going to be the black sheep of the political world, and 2) the similarly outcast religious right is one of the big keys to a conservative revival.

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Jonathan Falwell is the pastor of the historic Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., the church his father started in 1956.