Liberty is the hinge on which true conservatism swings

Lee Wolverton
Published: November 2, 2008

Beneath a canopy of clear blue sky on a cool day in Pensacola, Fla., Chuck Baldwin gazed into the unseen penumbra at clouds lined with dusky silver.

“Conservatism,” said the Baptist minister, referring to something he cherishes, “no longer exists. It’s dead. It’s buried. I’m not sure if it can be resurrected.”

Perhaps recalling the necessity of death before resurrection, Baldwin mused over the gnawing inevitability of Barack Obama’s ascension to the highest office in the land and discovered substance for hope.

“Let’s go ahead and have a socialist government,” he said. “It might be the best thing that could happen. It might make people recognize that we have abandoned the conservative government and conservative principles that made our country great. Perhaps in 2012, we might have a resurgence.”

Republican John McCain, who favors surges, would prefer one now rather than later, a slim likelihood that Baldwin does not figure to increase. Obscure even among third-party ranks, Baldwin is himself a candidate for president, running under the banner of the Constitution Party, which seeks that which others ought, to reflect the founders and their documents.

Organized in 1992 as the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party, the group adopted its current name in 1999. It so far has pushed precisely one candidate into office: Former Republican Rick Jore, a state representative in Montana, where Constitution principles resonate. But the party is America’s third largest and some of its sympathizers are notable, including Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, the former libertarian who has endorsed Baldwin; Alan Keyes, the onetime Obama foe who sought the party’s presidential nomination; and conservative columnist Pat Buchanan.

This, of course, does not imply that the Constitution Party has nudged the needle of national notice beyond mere detectability. Goliath was the narrow-shouldered pansy of Atlas cartoon fame next to the Republican and Democratic parties. They will not be falled with mere slings and rocks, but piles of cash, of which the Constitution crowd has little.

But its voice strikes chords, however faintly it may be heard from its place in the political hinterlands.

For instance, consider Baldwin’s response to the war in Iraq.

“President Bush told us he would walk softly and carry a big stick,” Baldwin said. “After he was elected, he became obsessed with nation building. The war in Iraq will go down in history as one of the most abysmal failures of any president.”

Constitutionists here replicate conservative tradition, what some may call the Old Right or paleoconservatism, which calls for a national defense with muscle but restraint in flexing it. Like a round peg in a round hole, such thinking fits symmetrically conservatism’s emphasis on limited government.

Under the sway of neoconservatives – who represent a misshapen form of liberalism – Bush has toted an ideology’s label while shattering its premises. In an era when the electorate seldom contemplates philosophical distinctions, conservatism teeters, not because its principles have been rejected but because they no longer are understood.

It is common, for example, to construe conservatism’s soul as having been sold to the concept of lower taxes, an emerging single issue championed at the expense of all others. Restraint in taxation is a conservative position and one of few Bush has held. But why limit taxes? Because doing so limits government. The aim is to extend freedom to the people to the fullest extent that reason will allow.

Laws in the conservative mind function in a similar capacity, being designed to safeguard individual sovereignty – including that of the unborn – against the incursions of others. Liberty is the hinge on which true conservatism swings. This thinking extends to America’s place abroad. The military’s function is to defend America not extend the empire.

Because so much of this has been forgotten, Baldwin insists there is a place in the election for him, even if that is to steal votes from McCain, to whom every ballot will be precious.

“It became obvious when the Republican Party would not nominate Ron Paul as their candidate that there was no one to bring the message of constitutional government and that message would be lost,” Baldwin said. “I’m here to give the American people a real alternative, an historic Americanism, the message of the founding fathers of liberty and sovereignty to the American people.”

That few have noticed is a trifle to Baldwin, though he can’t help but cast blame upon some of his seeming brethren, including most prominently Focus on the Family icon James Dobson, who was against McCain before he was for him.

“I believe that in order to keep their seat at the king’s table, in order to mollify and grovel before the Republican hierarchy, the religious right has been willing to compromise their principles,” Baldwin said. “James Dobson illustrated this better than any other single person. He said he wouldn’t support John McCain and then he turns around and endorses him.”

We shall learn in less than a few days whether that event set into motion the wave of evangelical support McCain likely will need to overcome Obama. A McCain victory like Bush’s, Baldwin suggests, might inject more poison into the weakening body of true conservatism.

“People are confused about what it means to be a conservative,” Baldwin said. “I understand. We Christians have compromised ourselves. We have changed and fluctuated and meandered all over the spectrum. I don’t know how we get it back. Maybe [a President Obama] is what we need.”

Here, Baldwin goes further than many conservatives, who otherwise agree with him substantively, are willing at the moment. Obama’s ascension, once considered foregone, appears in a sudden glimmer of weekend polls to be preventable. The trickles of socialism that McCain will allow remain preferable to the flood Obama would bring.

After the sun drops Tuesday, however, conservatives of every stripe might find, like Baldwin, that in the dark night of a movement’s soul, any light will do.

Lee Wolverton is editor and general manager of The News Virginian. E-mail him at .