Op-ed
Conservatism Lives, Despite Election Results
BY DAVID E. JOHNSON

Democrats and much of the media have attempted to make the argument that the election results were a repudiation of conservatism and even of Ronald Reagan's legacy for America. Recently I was on television with a Democratic consultant who jubilantly proclaimed that the elections symbolized a rejection of conservatism dating back to 1964. Nothing could be further from the truth. The election results were a repudiation not of conservatism but of President George W. Bush, whom conservatives believe has betrayed the Reagan legacy. Conservative ideals and principles are alive and well and continue to dominate the political landscape.

President Bush was elected by conservatives who believed that he would finalize unfinished items of the Reagan Revolution or so it was believed by conservatives. Throughout his first term and into the 2004 election, this unwavering support among conservatives sustained him and allowed him to thwart his political adversaries. Then came the Harriet Miers nomination for the Supreme Court in 2005. At Strategic Vision, our polling in key states in 2005, showed that the President's erosion of support among conservatives began with the Miers nomination. Seemingly overnight after that move, a majority of Republicans no longer viewed President Bush as a conservative in the mode of Ronald Reagan. Even with Miers' withdrawal and the Alito nomination, the President's standing among Republicans continued to decline as issues such as spending and immigration began to dominate the news. By Election Day in our polling, the President was lucky if 15 percent of Republicans viewed him as a conservative in the

Reagan mode. These conservatives sent a message on Election Day-by staying at home or voting Democratic to express their displeasure at the President's perceived indifference or betrayal of conservative ideals.

Conservatives believe that the President, while providing lip service to the Reagan legacy, doesn't understand (or does understand but is not interested in) the fight for the conservative agenda. They believe that the President has forgotten the Reagan mantra of less government, less taxes, and a stronger defense. More importantly, President Bush as demonstrated by the past several elections, has forgotten the key to success that Ronald Reagan understood-to succeed, conservative principles must appeal not only to conservatives but also to moderates and yes, even some liberals. Reagan understood that the greatness of ideas lay in the poetry of history, as he echoed in his rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, the liberal icon, just as Roosevelt had echoed Lincoln.

Democrats seemed to have learned that lesson well. They realized that to capture a majority they had to shed their liberal candidates and tap into the conservative anger with President Bush. They had to appeal to conservative voters. With candidates such as Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth, who acted as they were the ideological heirs of Ronald Reagan, Democrats attempted to rebrand their Party, despite being led by such liberals as Nancy Pelosi, who describes the Reagan Years as America's Dark Age. Indeed, the biggest political makeover came when liberal New York Senator Charles Schumer proclaimed that he and other Democrats were the real conservatives in

the tradition of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. At least after losing ground for over 20 years, the Democrats were realizing that the center of politics had moved to the right (even if the Democrats will move back to the left now that the elections are over). Republican leaders appear to have gotten the message, although subsequent actions will prove if they did or not. Indeed, all prominent Republicans, except for President Bush, have called for Republicans to return to the Republican principles of Reagan conservatism.

The White House however, seems to buy the idea that conservatism has been rejected. They act as of success will lie in adopting a "me-too" stand very similar to what Republicans did after the New Deal, and that led to a Democratic Congress for over 40 years. This was seen in the timing of the Rumsfeld resignation, the announcement of Senator Mel Martinez as the new Republican National Committee Chairman, and pledges of cooperation with Democrats. Polling conducted by Strategic Vision shows that Republican voters sense this as a renewed betrayal of Republican ideals.

The conservative movement is far from dead, as Democrats hope. It is alive and well and according to polls reflects mainstream America. Conservatives are waiting for leadership to once again reassert Republican principles and fight for those principles. If Republicans and the White House fall for the Democrats' myth that voters rejected conservatism, conservatives will send a louder message in 2008.

David E. Johnson, a pollster and consultant, is the CEO of Strategic Vision, LLC.