The cover story I co-wrote in the last issue of the Western Standard magazine is now available free online. A snippet:
But the notion that conservative ideas make for unwinnable platforms is only driving political strategy because parties have become so reliant on polls, focus groups and media spin. In other words, the public agenda is setting the course, and until voters embrace conservatism, it will remain, politically, a failing platform. For that to change, the conservative agenda must first drive the public agenda. Only then will it get the keys to the party machine. Change must come from the bottom up, not the top down. If the federal Conservative party is ever to win on a program of ideas that resembles conservatism, the national attitude of Canadians--and the media's perception of that attitude--must change.
What's needed goes far beyond the borders of the party and party organization. Simply padding the party with volunteers, platitudes, star candidates and clever campaign ads will not cure the problem. What's needed is a genuine movement to fuel the fire; an organized effort to build a critical mass of conservative counterculture. Such a movement would encompass the creation of think-tanks, publications and media organizations. It would require the training of bright young conservatives in professions traditionally dominated by liberals, such as the media and academia. It would mandate the establishment of legal action funds to bring forward conservative court challenges.
It would require something akin to a revolution.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:14 AM
