As I have followed some of the lingering fallout from CPAC 2009, I have found myself spending a bit of time considering some of the stuff Rush said about putting principles before policy.  It should come as no surprise to anyone that I agree with that approach, as I began my own posting on this blog with an articulation of First Principles which I view as being important to the future of American conservatism.  Rush tells us that there is no need for anyone to redefine conservatism and complains that anyone who tries to redefine it is at best missing the mark, and at worst a destructive force.  While I’ll take no position on that debate, I am sure that there is a significant and growing population for which conservatism needs to be defined in the first place, and that some of those in the “redefinition” business are actually trying to figure out just what the actual definition is.

The essential hallmark of a true blooded conservative appears to be a deep belief in God and Ronald Reagan.  Conservative principles are Reagan’s principles, and those who would seek to deviate are frowned upon or ostracized.  For members of the current political class, for people like Rush, and for Baby Boomers in general, the invocation of Reagan’s name codes for a whole collection of principles and policies which set most or all of the entire definition of modern conservatism.  For these people, who lived through Reagan, the full set of principles is entirely clear, and perfectly summarized in speaking His name.

America has reached a point in time where people who have never known Reagan are beginning to become politically active.  Though they are only just now becoming politically active, the up and coming leaders and opponents of Reagan’s Party are people who were just starting elementary school when Reagan himself left office.  Their knowledge of Reagan comes not from bearing witness, but from teachers and textbooks.  To them, and to the liberals who have no incentive to correct any misunderstanding, he is the man of Iran-Contra, compassionate conservatism, and that silly trickle-down “Reaganomics” thing.  Oh, and the end of the Cold War.

These relatively useless bits of information are not helpful to an up and coming conservative when it comes to understanding conservative principles, particularly if that understanding is meant to make conservatism sound like a good thing.  To make matters worse, young conservatives and pretty much all liberals now define conservatism not in relation to Ronald Reagan, but to George W. Bush.  What Reagan actually stands for has been communicated very poorly from the elder to the coming generation, leaving younger conservatives to pretty much try to make it up as they go along.

Perhaps one upshot of the current squabbling will be an effort not so much to redefine conservatism, but for the people who already know the definition to spend some time filling the rest of us in.