Republicans vs. Conservatives

Something I hear constantly when I answer people who ask about my politics is, “Oh, so you're a Republican,” with varying levels of surprise and/or thinly veiled condescension, depending on who it is and how that person feels about conservatives. Normally, I correct these people. Yet, sometimes, those who I have corrected insist on calling me a Republican. However, to me, the distinction between me being a conservative and me being a Republican is vitally important as being one or the other defines what motivates my beliefs and my actions.

For example, say it was true that I was a Republican. What does that suggest/mean?

By saying I am a Republican, it says that I am voting for a party. It says that I vote for Republicans simply for the sake of voting for Republicans; my reason is driven purely out of party loyalty. The irony of saying that I'm Republican is that I think party loyalty (as a method of voting) is a shallow, unthinking way to approach elections (something I intend to discuss later). It does not take complex thought to flip a lever or press a button merely because you see that it is in the Republican (or Democrat) column.

No, I vote Republican because I am one, but because I am a conservative. I have thought out opinions and feelings on issues independent of party affiliation. I vote Republican because it is the conservative party. It is the party most in line with my opinions and my way of thinking. I in no way believe it or its members are perfect or correct all of the time, but it is the party most likely to espouse and lobby for what I believe is good and right for the country. Voting Republican for any other reason does not cross my mind.

For another, visual example, take these two men:

 

For the uninitiated, the man on the left is Arizona Senator John McCain, a Republican, while the man on the right is Charles Krauthammer, a conservative columnist. What makes these two men different? In many ways, they are similar. They hold conservative opinions on some issues and liberal opinions on others. However, McCain is an entrenched incumbent, whose positions are about as flexible as the gymnasts you have been watching on NBC. Mr. Krauthammer, on the other hand, holds his opinions based on his principles and experience.

In essence, the difference is that Republicans are politicians while conservatives are true believers.

The former can just as easily be swayed by party posturing and a desire to be re-elected as they can by their conservative constituents. Conservatives, on the other hand, are not governed by the sway of politics or a particular political party, but rather by the convictions they hold in their hearts.

The conservative backlash against the weaknesses of the Republican party in 2010, where the Tea Party unseated incumbents in favor of running strong conservatives in races, is a prime example of this difference. Not every candidate won his or her race, but they stuck by their principles during the race regardless of the difficulty caused by such convictions. A Republican, on the other hand, would have changed and shifted to best fit the opinions of his/her possible constituents and thus have no grounded feelings or opinions.

So, before you call your conservative friends “Republicans,” remember this article and consider: how would you feel if someone called you a “Democrat” instead of a “liberal?”