Keep Your Eye on the Ball This Christmas - Christmas Calm for ConservativesMerry Christmas, friends. Part of celebrating this season means wishing for peace on earth and goodwill toward your fellow men and women. That spirit of goodwill ought to extend even into the sometimes messy world of conservative politics.
Now, if you've been paying attention to the news lately, you've probably seen the story about former Vice President Mike Pence's group hiring a bunch of folks away from the Heritage Foundation. There's talk of ideological fights, accusations of disloyalty flying around, and plenty of hand-wringing about the future of the conservative movement. Kevin Roberts over at Heritage put out a video that rubbed some people the wrong way, board members resigned, and now about fifteen staffers are heading over to Pence's outfit called Advancing American Freedom.
Here's the thing. This kind of shuffling happens all the time in politics. Groups come and go. Leaders rise and fall. Organizations that seemed permanent yesterday get reshuffled tomorrow. It's the nature of the beast.
Remember when Rush Limbaugh passed away? Some folks acted like conservative talk radio would disappear forever. It didn't. Remember when Ronald Reagan left the White House? People wondered if the movement he built could survive without him. Well, here we are decades later still having these same conversations about principles and policies and where the party ought to head next.
So when you read about Pence versus Heritage, or the arguments at conferences about isolationism versus engagement, or tariffs versus free trade, or who gets to define what conservatism even means anymore, don't get your underwear in a bind. And for heaven's sake, don't throw in the towel.
The conservative movement has survived plenty of internal squabbles before. It'll survive this one too. What matters is keeping your eye on the ball. The principles that built this movement didn't disappear because one organization had a bad week or one leader made a questionable decision. Limited government, individual liberty, strong national defense, free markets, and traditional values don't evaporate just because some staffers changed offices.
There's going to be jockeying for influence as President Trump's term winds down. That's natural. Different factions will push different visions. Some will win, some will lose, and somewhere in the middle the actual work of governing and advancing sound policy will continue.
So this Christmas, enjoy your family. Appreciate the blessings you have. And when it comes to all this political noise, take a deep breath. The republic has weathered worse storms than a disagreement between Mike Pence and Kevin Roberts.
Merry Christmas to all of you.