Aaron Shock, Generation Y Conservative Republican Success Story

Elizabeth Meinecke has a great piece in Human Events on Aaron Shock.

He’s from Illinois, young, smart and has a natural talent for relating to voters. And no, he’s not Barack Obama: he’s Aaron Schock, the newly elected U.S. representative for Illinois’ 18th district. Even Biden would like him -- he’s young, clean, and articulate, and at 27, will bring a Generation Y voice to Congress in January.

In four campaigns (school board, state legislature twice, and now U.S. representative), he’s never run a negative ad. Instead, he talks about what he wants to do. He has taken his message into an urban district, even to the pulpits of his constituents’ churches. And when the mud starts slinging in Shock’s direction, he always has a clean and clear response...

“She’s a Democrat in a Democrat district, and she’ll be there as long as she wants,” Schock said people told him. He ran against her anyway, and he won.

He’s done all this, unlike the Kennedys, without wealth or the backing of a political family.

“People look at me and my age and say, “Oh, you know, [he] must …come from this political family. Couldn’t be further from the truth,” Schock said. “Nobody had ever run for office. My parents never said, “Hey, you should run someday for office.” When I decided to run for the school board at 19, they thought I was crazy...”

He comes battle-tested from an Illinois environment where conservatives could claim protection only as an endangered species. As a state representative, the Republican Schock’s demographic was an urban district where 20,000 of the 40,000 voters were on food stamps. 25 percent of his constituents were African American. He had to overcome $980,000 worth of attack TV commercials against him in his first state house race (it was the most expensive house race in state history). His re-election race set a new record. When he got to the state legislature, the good old boy network advised him to keep quiet if he wanted re-election -- in fact, they told him he shouldn’t vote like a Republican.

“I said, you know what, I’m 23 years old, I ran because I wanted to do what I think is right…I don’t need to be here, and if I lose, so be it, ” Schock said, and ended up voting twice against increase in minimum wage. “I have one of the most conservative voting records in the state house. I’ve got a 100 percent pro-life, pro-family, 100 percent with the second amendment. “

Aaron Schock will vote his conscience, and that may be lucky for conservatives.

Aaron Shock shows that conservatism can win in districts once thought impregnable to Republicans. He shows the power of someone who walks the conservative Republican talk. I hope he is representative of many of the future leaders of our party, & we elect many more who will vote their conscience - conservative Republican conscience.

Crossposted at Rebuild The Party.

Fred is Right - Time to Look Ahead

Fred Thompson has a great piece on Townhall.com, focusing on the future. The time for licking wounds among conservatives & Republicans is over, it's time to get back to work for the next 2 years & beyond.

...But our gratitude for life and liberty should also serve as a reminder that what we were working so hard to achieve these past few years still very much hangs in the balance. And it is up to each of us to continue that fight. Our participation as citizens of the United States does not end once we’ve pulled the lever in the voting booth. That ballot is just the beginning...

But if the time I spent traveling around America the past 18 months has given me anything, it is hope. And it if has confirmed anything for me, it is this: America remains the greatest country in the history of the world, and our citizens who care about our nation’s founding values—freedom, free markets, respect for life and the rule of law—will not stop defending these values as much as some of our fellow citizens and leaders might wish they would...

We are going to have to use every tool we have—grassroots organizations, think tanks, magazines, talk radio, the Internet—while building new institutions to blunt the efforts of a left-wing establishment that appears willing to use uncertainty to impose an agenda that would never see the light of day in normal times...

We have the formula—a conservative formula—that has worked before and will surely work again. It is grounded in our first principles. It’s time we moved past the recriminations and seven stages of grief. It’s time to look ahead, to stay united and to defend the values that we know must endure if our nation is to do the same...

Fred is right, we do have the winning formula that even the Democrats recognize - that's why so many Democrats have ran to the right of their Republican opponents, many successfully. Now that the Democrats will have all the responsiblity & blame to go along with credit, these Democrats who ran right can be held accountable. We simply have to get to work & use the tools available, especially the internet. Information can be worldwide in a matter of seconds, & a call to action can be as well. It's time to go on the offensive positively with something to be for, not just against.

Bill Kristol Gets It!

Bill Kristol's recent editorial in the NYT is very good. I'll post the most salient excerpt here:

Republicans and conservatives today face a similar challenge to that of 1976. A hawkish foreign policy, social conservatism and middle-American populism aren’t the problems. Those elements, as embodied on the Republican ticket by John McCain and Sarah Palin, produced a respectable 46 percent of the national vote — in the midst of an economic meltdown, with the Bush administration flailing and House Republicans rebelling and the Republican ticket lacking any coherent economic message.

The lack of economic message is a direct result of too many of the Republican leaders eschewing limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. They went "Washington" & paid for it by losing the majority in 2006 & further losses to a feckless Democrat-led congress in 2008. Reclaiming the mantle of limited government fiscally responsible conservatism will be key to not only reclaiming power but also putting in place good policy for our country.

On Abortion & Restoring the Conservative Republican Party - Bold Colors, not Pale Pastels

Far too many of the pale pastel crowd want Republicans & conservatives to shut up about abortion. As I believe abortion is wrong, I believe "shutting up" about it to be wrong also.

Many people say they're pro-choice just so that the pro-abortion crowd will not shout them down. I believe that the right to life plank should always remain in the Republican platform. People want strong leaders with strong morals, & this plank has served the conservatives & Republicans well.

Going back to my soapbox, what the Republican party needs are conservative leaders who can reclaim the mantle of limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. THIS is what has been missing, & has cost the Republicans in 06 & 08. It is horrible that Obama won the tax cut argument in this election - though he will not make good on his promise. We need leadership to emerge that will fix the stool & have all three legs - strong conservative moral & social views, strong national defense, & limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. This is the way we will not only win elections, but make a positive impact on our country for ourselves & future generations.

Work for what you believe in

More lessons from the election.

First, and absolutely foremost, we can not allow anyone like John McCain to ever be our candidate ever again. Republicans win when they act like Republicans, not when they do some 'reaching across the aisle' nonsense. Oh, John McCain was popular with Democrats? How wonderful for him. When Democrats got a choice between voting for a Democrat and voting for their favorite Republican who sometimes acted like a Democrat, they chose the Democrat...

Senator McCain is a true American Hero & was a better choice than Obama. However, he was not the right candidate. He did not differentiate himself enough from Obama on key issues, with the financial crisis & bailout bill being the big "surprise" of the election. We needed a candidate who would have stood up against the bailout, the global warming cap & trade garbage, & illegal immigration - that candidate would have won.

Second, the world is not ending. It's also not magically better. Liberals are dumb, let them believe that Obama is going to bring some mythical change and hope to their lives. Good on them, they fall for this kind of thing often, it's more than a little sad...

In Biden's infamous "Obama will be tested" speech, he said Obama would make "unpopular decisions. I take this to mean that his supporters won't have their mortgages paid & they may be unhappy that he doesn't do everything all at once.

This leads me to number three: don't be like them. You know what I mean. Liberals acted like animals for the past 8 years and there's this feeling among Republicans that we must make the Obama presidency hellish on a day-to-day basis...

Good advice. We must oppose the bad things, things which will hurt our country. We can oppose them in a rational manner & not be like the coarse thugs on the left. That differentiates us positively, we can discuss & debate, disagree in a civil manner.

Finally, Republicans as a party have a lot of work to do for the next four years...The next four years have to be about focus and honing our message...

We have the winning message, we simply need to get back to it. Core conservatism, individual freedom and economic opportunity for all.

However many years of the Obama presidency there are, we will have much work to do. We must not shirk from the struggle. Too much is at stake for us, our children, & those generations to come.