www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp4jwtFlXho

The video is from earlier this year, but it is still significant. As a sidenote, I find it ironic that Arlen Specter claimed to have switched sides because the Republican Party had grown far “too conservative” under Bush, and yet it was President Bush in 2004 who literally saved Specter from losing his senate seat to a far more conservative challenger in the primary.

If conservatism means enthusiasm for war, using the federal government to oppose gay marriage and flag burning, and increasing state and individual interference by the federal government… then yeah, we’ve probably been too conservative.

However, if conservatism means advocating limited government, defending the Constitution and the restraints it puts on government, supporting freedom, protecting individual rights, and keeping America’s defense strong but unencumbered–then I’d say it’s time to roll up our sleeves and start acting like true conservatives again.

As Barry Goldwater put it in The Conscience of a Conservative:

The conscience of the Conservative is pricked by anyone who would debase the dignity of the individual human being. Today, therefore, he is at odds with dictators who rule by terror, and equally with those gentler collectivists who ask our permission to play God with the human race.

With this view of the nature of man, it is understandable that the conservative looks upon politics as the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order… the Conservative’s first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?

My own journey to becoming a Republican is probably an atypical one. When I entered college as a freshman, I considered myself unaligned and a moderate. I joined the libertarian club, the Seton Hall University Students for Individual Liberty, with a bunch of my friends.

My political inspirations were the Founding Fathers, especially Jefferson and Madison, as well as the political philosophy of John Locke—so you could say my opinions revolved around freedom and limited government. While I wasn’t a part of the “Blame Bush” crowd, the actions throughout the Bush administration (Patriot Act, Iraq War, the deficits) turned me off from associating with the party.

The first thing that started to draw me towards the Republican Party was the Ron Paul campaign for president in 2007. What I saw in Paul was someone who was firmly committed to the principles of liberty and less government, who did so often at the peril of being its lone defender in Congress. I figured if he had a place in the Republican Party, perhaps I do too.

I think the second draw was in the summer of 2008, when I was learning about the 1964 Barry Goldwater campaign, and listened to Ronald Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” campaign speech of that year. Senator Goldwater was an unabashed defender of freedom in Congress, and his book “The Conscience of a Conservative” is a manifesto for the values of libertarian-conservatism.

Unfortunately, Goldwater lost pretty badly to Johnson that year (perhaps thanks to negative ads that implied Goldwater would start nuclear war, such as the infamous Daisy Girl one). However, he sparked the “conservative revolution” in the party which made Ronald Reagan’s ascent possible—as George F. Will said after the 1980 election, “it took 16 years to count the votes from 1964 and Goldwater won.”

What had the sharpest impact on me, though, was Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech, televised just before the 1964 election. It was Reagan’s official debut into politics, and this was the speech that catapulted him to the California governorship two years later. Listening to this speech online, I thought, “Wow, I completely believe in every single point he’s bringing up.” It is a brilliant and still-relevant speech, and it actually had a profound influence on my decision to become a Republican. I would quote my favorite part, but I would honestly end up just posting the entire transcript.

That, in a nutshell, is why I am a Republican today. To the extent that the Republican Party is a vessel for individual liberty and the free market, I work to support those causes. I am all about freedom, personal responsibility, and adherence to our Constitution. Like many Republicans before me, I am a fusionist, and I believe in a natural alliance between conservatism and libertarianism.

With that said, I look forward to working with everybody in turning the party around, and helping to score victory for New Jersey this November, as well as success in the 2010 midterms!