Why I think Harper's on the right track

Why is it that when things get rough, some Conservatives decide so quickly to fly the coop? You hear things like "That's it, I'm not sending my money to the Party anymore until they change their mind on this issue", or "They can forget about my vote because they're not doing things my way". Just makes me roll my eyes, and want to beat some people over the head to knock some sense into them! (figuratively speaking, of course)

Today I started reading David Frum's "Comeback: Conservatism that Can Win Again". I'm only on the third chapter, but I'll already wholeheartedly recommend that all real Conservatives should give it a read. David is bang on in his analysis of the present political climate in North America. What he has to say hits to the very heart of what I've been saying for years... in order to win, in order to govern effectively, we need to clue in to what it is Canadians really want... a new and pragmatic conservatism. Or, put another way... Harper Conservatism.

Now people will say things like, "Harper has sold out" due to things like deficit spending, not dealing with Section 13, or not dealing quickly enough with hard core "conservative" issues that are near and dear to all our hearts. But here's a principle that a lot of Conservatives tend to forget... people will NOT be lead where they don't want to go.

What do I mean by that? It's quite simple, really... Canadians want a centrist, middle of the road approach to government. After so many years of Liberal rule, they're simply not ready for what we know as real conservatism... which of course we all know is the best possible form of government this country could possibly have. But in order for Canadians to give us their full confidence and trust, we need to show them that conservatism is the best political philosophy out there.

I submit to you all that we haven't been doing a very good job of that. Take our idiocy over Section 13, for example. Most Canadians, quite frankly, don't even know what Section 13 is all about. And they don't care. There are issues that are WAY more important to them and their families, and we put our priorities over theirs at our own peril. But every time I see another blog post complaining about how we're not repealing Section 13 quickly enough, I just shake my head, reminded once again that a lot of my fellow conservatives aren't being mindful of the long game... replacing the Liberal Party and becoming the new "Natural Governing Party" of this country.

It's only then, once we've established that we're not just the best of the bad options available, but in fact a desirable option, it's only then that we can take the time to show Canadians WHY our ideas are in their best interest... once they fully trust us.

So all these folks who are saying "That's it, I'm outta here", they obviously haven't clued in yet. Our present situation is not suitable to deal with many of our so called "core issues"... we're still on probation, as it were. Think of these last three years as an extended job interview... Canadians giving us the opportunity to show them what we can do. Personally, I don't think we've done a bad job, but these next few weeks will be our real test.

Canadians have said, quite clearly, that they expect the government to intervene in this current economic situation. Period. Regardless of how we feel about deficit spending, the people have spoken. They want the government to at least make the effort, and will not accept anything less. As I said before, you can't lead the people where they don't want to go. Likewise, once the people indicate what direction they want to go, it's our job to do so in a manner that best aligns our principles.

It's not "selling out"... it's called "governing". So if your key issues really mean anything to you, you'll recognize that in order to actually deal with them, it means that we have to form the government. And in order to form the government, we have to maintain the confidence of the people. And we only do that by leading the people in a direction and manner they're willing to be lead, using our principles to guide us.

Pragmatic Conservatism. It's the only kind of conservatism that can win. It might be familiar... because it's Harper's kind of Conservatism.

He's still got my vote, BECAUSE he's being pragmatic. And if any of my fellow "conservatives" try to show him the door prematurely, they'll only succed in making Michael Ignatieff the next Prime Minister. And we could be following the Republicans out into the wilderness, for what could be a very long time.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to go there. I'm glad Mr. Harper is at the helm, seeking to steer this country in a better direction... we're tacking against the wind, but we're making progress. Let's throw any mutineers that rear their ugly heads overboard, and let's stick together and continue sailing through the storm... tacking against the wind.