If a mainstream conservative wants to defend his book to the readers of the LA Times, then what does he say?
Jonah Goldberg says :
Largely left on the cutting-room floor were some important points that might have made my book seem a bit more nuanced. When he railed about conservatives and gay marriage, I pointed out that in my book, I’m sympathetic to it.
Social conservatives wonder what would happen if one of their leaders said in an interview to the LA Times,
“Largely left on the cutting-room floor were some important points that might have made my book seem a bit more nuanced. When he railed about universal government health care, I pointed out in my book I’m sympathetic to it.”
Would such a leader be Rushed out the movement or at least taken to the woodshed as sucking up to the LA Times by soft pedaling a conservative view?
Even if wrong about it, many social conservatives worry that they are being used by the conservative establishment. They have fears, often overblown, that their issues are viewed as of second tier importance. They suspect that after they pay the bills and fill the cruises that they are mocked behind their backs.
They dread being seen as rubes and used by those with the right schools, parents, or pedigree.
I don’t think this is true, but the perception is there. I hear it all the time and defend mainstream conservatism from it.
However, the perception is a problem in politics and the attempts to fix the problem have often been counter-productive.
The best way to fix it is by giving young Evangelicals a place at the table in the establishment. Christian colleges graduate thousands of top tier students many of whom are conservatives. There are smart people out there as willing to provide a different perspective as conservative atheists do, but they are nearly invisible at many think tanks and mainstream conservative institutions.
Often if Evangelicals want a voice, they have to create their own institutions. This risks trapping them in a ghetto that their co-belligerents for small government can ignore or dismiss. It is bad for mainstream conservatism when Evangelical social conservatives work in their own groups and mainstream conservatives fail to cultivate new conservative Evangelical leadership in house.
If mainstream conservatives will not do this, they will have nobody to blame if a Huckabee or a Obama steals the political hearts of the next generation of Evangelicals but themselves.
Mentoring works.
Goldberg himself is an excellent example of allowing a bright young conservative to learn the ropes, mentoring him through some early growing pains, and giving him a chance to shine. All of us are glad he got that chance and thankful for his work.
It is time NRO and other mainstream groups began to do the same for young Evangelicals if they wish to secure this important group for the future of the conservative movement.
Otherwise a large number well educated and conservative Evangelical Christians will be left to wonder, “Are there more atheists than Evangelicals at NRO? Why?”