Lately I’ve been disappointed with many establishment GOPers, that is no secret. Their ambivalence toward the U.S. Constitution is troubling, their support for “judicial activism” when it suits their interests is disappointing, and their adherence to unconstitutional usurpation of executive power is frightening. Another issue I think that conservatives fall flat on is talking about real, concerning issues.

My thoughts on this matter all came about by an article in the University of Colorado’s Newspaper, The Scribe. Looking at the political editorials, I found an article denouncing one, Norman Hsu and the behavior of Hillary Clinton. There was nothing wrong with the article, and in fact, I agreed with it. But unfortunately, it left a bad taste in my mouth - mostly because I have been feeling that conservatives spend too much time on petty little issues that don’t matter when considering the big picture. The Hsu opinion was what I consider a petty matter that most of the public won’t even pay attention to. In my opinion, conservatives need to talk about the big issues that actually matter and reside in the public mind.

In my opinion, mainstreet conservatives need to stop talking about the little petty social nonsense that comes up in the news every week, but instead focus on BIG ideas and big issues - like the Constitution, terrorism, states’ rights, limited government, social security reform, and other ignored issues like trade and taxes. When it comes down to it, BIG ideas matter to the people, not little petty things that pass from the public’s mind after a few weeks. Conservatives need to touch on issues that liberals will NEVER touch, like keeping taxes low, strategies for market-based economic growth, and the need to promote representative government abroad

UPDATE: I just got out of my Constitutional Law class. Though I’m in class with a bunch of Colorado Springs right-wingers (which is refreshing), I feel many only pay attention to the 30 second soundbites and current media stories. People only mentioned warrant-less NSA wiretapping 3 times(!!!) and really didn’t have anything to say in terms of historical or institutional knowledge about the presidency at all (which was discussed today). Unfortunately, this may be something I will have to deal with on a regular basis - many conservatives simply toe the party line and repeat talking points instead of really exploring the issues involved. This is why I would rather have a discussion with *classic* liberals and economic libertarians than modern, mainstream conservatives.