A Mountain Reflection: Conservative Roots

[xtypo_dropcap]S[/xtypo_dropcap]o here we are, two weeks out from Nov. 2 midterm elections, and by golly the saturation campaigns are in full swing. My phone rings throughout the day, and I often come home to an answering machine of automated political messages caught in mid-sentence, as if “record” was pressed late (but just in time to catch some fellow telling me to vote “no” on proposition xyz, which will “kill jobs”).

And as I recently channel surfed, a television commercial came on telling me why I shouldn’t vote for candidate A and his extreme ideas, followed by a rebuttal ad from said candidate A, telling me candidate B is an establishment politician, and part of a bigger problem.

Colorado is even garnering national attention, with a close, key Senate race and a tight gubernatorial race that now includes a late third party candidate who trails the front runner by four points.

Brother, it’s on.

Although a registered Independent for many years, I’m often labeled “conservative,” a simple word that can have complicated meanings. My progressive neighbor even exclaimed to me recently: “Man, you ARE Republican!” when I mentioned self-responsibility, while we both were elucidating backyard solutions to national problems.

This came in between remarks on what fine spinach and kale greens old Ed had grown this summer, and how not to kill myself replacing broken rain gutters on my steep-pitched roof.

“Republican?” I responded. “No, no. I’m ok with being called conservative, but I’m an Independent.”

“Conservative, Republican .... same difference,” said my neighbor, grinning at me with friendly provocation. Here we go.

“Au contraire, mon frère,” I said with an Eastwood squint and a wink, sipping a mug of freshly ground while leaning into the fence post. “They are not interchangeable. What better illustration than the stunned Republican incumbents who were beaten in the primaries, and the rise of “Tea Party” conservatism.”

“Hummppph,” said the neighbor. “Extremists, hijacking the party. That’s even worse trouble.”

In our volatile political culture, “conservative” can be a four-letter-word when used by progressive Democrats, and Republicans use it to reidentify with a party that once comfortably represented conservatism—but now is not so sure.

Of course, the word conservative generally has a positive meaning: favoring traditional values, style and manners, practicing restraint, living within one’s means, being self-reliant. Being conservative means sometimes you make sacrifices, but you stay in control of your life, and your choices.

It feels to me like American conservatism is on the rebound, but not the “conservative” defined by a hyper-political culture. It’s a remembering of who we are, why this American system of government is different, and fulfilling the responsibilities that come with it to ourselves and others.

The history of the founders and formation of the country are steeped in a theme of self-reliance, self-responsibility, limited government and freedom of belief. Regardless of where we are or where we go, that’s where we came from.

Conservatism belongs to no one party, which might lead to America rediscovering its conservative roots.