What's Next for Conservatives?

In the autumn of the Bush years, conservatives are asking what worked and what comes next. It is clear that compassionate conservatism was a mixed blessing. It obtained tactical successes in winning the support of women and Hispanics, but it released the brakes on federal spending.

And, Andrew E. Busch writes, in issues like education and prescription drugs it conceded massive increases in spending without a corresponding advance in choice and ownership. When Republicans relax their devotion to limited government, they lose. Busch proposes a reinvigorated platform that includes:
— holding the fiscal line on both taxes and spending;


— re-energizing a public philosophy of constitutionalism and limited government;


— supporting a measured cultural traditionalism;


— incrementally introducing mechanisms for greater choice and accountability into existing public programs;


— concerted campaigning in the black and Hispanic communities on the basis of moral and religious standards, as well as entrepreneurship;


— continuing to promote the vitality of civil society

Perhaps the most important area where conservatives can win the support of women, blacks, and Hispanics is in the reform of education. Education is very important to women, especially, and yet they typically do not look at education beyond the immediate necessity of finding the best available option or program for their children within the existing structure.

Recent research on child-raising has strongly suggested that parenting doesn’t make much difference. The two big factors affecting child outcomes are genes and peers. In other words, after selecting their mate, the next biggest decision a parent makes is to select their children’s peer group.

A child’s peer group is the neighborhood children and the children at school.

This means that school choice is a huge issue for parents. If they have no choice in selecting a school for their children then they have no power to select their child’s peer group, and no way to influence this important influence on their child’s life.

This is a way to get the support of women.

Conservatives must advance the idea that, given the vital importance of controling a child’s peer group, it is wrong for the government to take this freedom away from parents. It doesn’t matter whether the school is public, private, religious, or home-school. Parents must have the right to send their child to the school of their choice.