I think that there are a couple of nuggets that serve as a starting place for conservative unity:
1. Subsidiarity: Sometime around the time when the GOP talked about revoking California's air quality standards, it was clear that the national party could care less about the principle of pushing as much governance to the local levels as makes sense. I have Democratic friends who are unabashed supporters of centralizing and federalizing policy ("shouldn't folks in Alabama have the exact same opportunities as people in California?"), and I think that there's an opening for a clear message that you and your community know what's best for you - not Washington.
For this to work, the GOP has to get rid of its addition to outrage and smile and let Blue areas be Blue, while arguing that Red areas should be Red. When Evanston, Illinois announces that they want to start providing reparations, instead of making a Dreher-esque cry that this is the first step to America's version of the Spanish Civil War, conservatives should say something along the lines of "good for them, let's see how it plays out". The GOP needs to start being the explicit party of the "laboratories of democracy", and be up-front about the trade-offs of more local government while highlighting the benefits of it.
2. "Made in the USA": One of the things that I think Trump got right was that we need to get back to making (more) things in this country as opposed to relying on international imports. While I'm as big of a fan of global free trade as anyone else, I would appreciate an effective set of policies that brought more Americans back into manufacturing and design, producing goods locally that are purchased and used by their fellow Americans.
There are a couple of things floating around the conservative noosphere such as incentivizing schools to bring back shop class, treating vocational education with the same financial support and prestige that we give to folks attending universities, and providing local incentives (subsidies) to buy local. I feel like these can be brought under one "Made in the USA" umbrella as an effective counter-message against Democrats. However, it needs to be done under the understanding that this isn't about subsidizing substandard American producers to compete with stronger competitors overseas, but rather in raising the quality of the American Maker to a point where American quality not only inspires local purchases, but out-competes our foreign competitors when put up in a head-to-head comparison.
I think that there are a couple of nuggets that serve as a starting place for conservative unity:
1. Subsidiarity: Sometime around the time when the GOP talked about revoking California's air quality standards, it was clear that the national party could care less about the principle of pushing as much governance to the local levels as makes sense. I have Democratic friends who are unabashed supporters of centralizing and federalizing policy ("shouldn't folks in Alabama have the exact same opportunities as people in California?"), and I think that there's an opening for a clear message that you and your community know what's best for you - not Washington.
For this to work, the GOP has to get rid of its addition to outrage and smile and let Blue areas be Blue, while arguing that Red areas should be Red. When Evanston, Illinois announces that they want to start providing reparations, instead of making a Dreher-esque cry that this is the first step to America's version of the Spanish Civil War, conservatives should say something along the lines of "good for them, let's see how it plays out". The GOP needs to start being the explicit party of the "laboratories of democracy", and be up-front about the trade-offs of more local government while highlighting the benefits of it.
2. "Made in the USA": One of the things that I think Trump got right was that we need to get back to making (more) things in this country as opposed to relying on international imports. While I'm as big of a fan of global free trade as anyone else, I would appreciate an effective set of policies that brought more Americans back into manufacturing and design, producing goods locally that are purchased and used by their fellow Americans.
There are a couple of things floating around the conservative noosphere such as incentivizing schools to bring back shop class, treating vocational education with the same financial support and prestige that we give to folks attending universities, and providing local incentives (subsidies) to buy local. I feel like these can be brought under one "Made in the USA" umbrella as an effective counter-message against Democrats. However, it needs to be done under the understanding that this isn't about subsidizing substandard American producers to compete with stronger competitors overseas, but rather in raising the quality of the American Maker to a point where American quality not only inspires local purchases, but out-competes our foreign competitors when put up in a head-to-head comparison.
It's the Hundred Grand by the way. I would have said Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (accept no imitations!) but they're aren't technically a bar.