I know the Primary Election results from Tuesday can be and likely will be a bit tough for some in our county to stomach – but it’s far past time conservatives along the entire political spectrum laid down the pitchforks to get busy working together toward mending conservatism.

Since about 2008, there has been earth shattering splits within the sphere of conservatism, whether it’s been among the staunch Republican conservatives, the nonparty conservatives and/or with the moderate conservatives in Libertarian and Independent parties. To be fair, a split among conservatives began long before 2008. In fact, most would say the recent modern conservatism split dates back to the former President George W. Bush era, which ironically for Wyomingites, includes his former Vice President Dick Cheney – whose daughter, incumbent and soon-to-be former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney is at the center of a major division among conservatives today.

That split, which we won’t go into detail now about, included issues about the manner in which the aftermath of 9/11 in 2001 was handled, among other key conservatism issues, such as the passage of the 1990 Gun Free School Zones Act.

Can any conservative truly point to the original fracturing? Not in any certain terms, because small fractures have occurred for several decades.

Perhaps one of the most recent in memory came on the heels of when a well-known actor turned politician, who publicly switched his party affiliation, announced he was a Republican; he eventually became president.

It was truly unheard of at that time, and nearly earth-shattering, at least here in the United States, when former President Ronald Reagan formally switched parties in 1962; it would be almost another 20 years before he would be elected to the presidency.

Enter the era of Reaganism; the first time.

“I didn’t leave the Democratic party – the party left me,” Reagan said during a speech in 1962 during his bid to help Arizona-native and Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater into the Oval Office.

Goldwater lost to Democrat former President Lyndon B. Johnson, in what was then the largest margin in history; 52 electoral votes went to Goldwater, 486 to Johnson – Johnson also secured 39% of the popular vote, nearly double of what Goldwater raked in.

It was one of the first times where states that had ordinarily voted Republican switched to vote Democrat. This would happen again during the Bill Clinton and Obama administrations. It also occurred in the Richard Nixon and Reagan administrations in the opposite direction – and again in two separate elections for Trump, swinging in the opposite direction each time, truly unprecedented.

A new face would soon become the modern face of what many still consider Reaganism: enter former Republican President Donald Trump in 2015, who also switched parties.

In Reagan’s second term, he swept the electoral map, which no candidate since has done by winning 525 electoral votes, giving his opponent Democrat Walter Mondale just 13. Reagan won by a landslide in his first term in 1980, taking 489 electoral votes, giving incumbent Democrat President Jimmy Carter 49.

Reagan’s Vice President, George H. W. Bush (Sr) would go on to serve one term as President of the United States following the end of Reagan’s second term. In 1988, Bush Sr. took 426 electoral votes, giving his opponent Democrat Michael Dukakis 111. In 1992, Incumbent Bush lost to challenger Democrat Bill Clinton, with Clinton securing 370 electoral votes and Bush Sr. taking 168. His son, former Republican President George W. Bush would narrowly win both of his presidential elections in 2000 and again in 2004 against Democrat challengers Al Gore and John Kerry.

By then, Reagan had spoken out about the direction the Republican party was taking at several political appearances in the late 90s. At one point, he said the new era of Republicanism was not dissimilar to the fate of the Democratic party that had “left him” about 30 years prior to that time. Still, for the sake of conservatism, Reagan planted seeds to mend the party fractures and continue what he set in motion in the early 60s through his presidential terms.

Per The National Archives, Trump lost to Joseph Biden in 2020, bringing in 232 electoral votes and Biden bringing in 306. Before that, in 2016, Trump won 304 electoral votes and Hillary Clinton took 227 (seven electoral votes went to a third candidate) – nearly opposite of what he had in his subsequent election in 2020.

What set Reagan apart from Trump and both Bush’s? Why did conservative and moderate Americans love Reagan, but seem to disfavor Trump, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr.?

Perhaps that can be answered by looking at the manner in which Reagan ushered in a new era of conservatism while remaining to his most authentic self; something both Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. have admitted on record was a challenge at times. Perhaps it can answer why initially conservative Americans loved Trump, until 2020, they seemed to no longer love him.

Reagan had idolized former Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and his “liberal” New Deal. Later, Reagan would chastise it, arguing that most government social programs were not needed for the purpose of “humanitarian aid” and further criticized political bureaucrats who boss people around using these programs. He went as far to say, most of the social programs were unconstitutional, and an overreach of government and regulatory powers – because often the programs didn’t help those it intended to help in proper means according to Reagan.

So when he said his famous line about switching parties, he literally meant the party left him and his values as a “progressive” of the time – barring in mind, today’s standard and definition of “progressivism” is vastly different than that of the 60s. Reagan inadvertently carved a new era of conservatism – an era most conservatives joined and are intrinsic to still today.

Switching parties isn’t unheard of, it’s not a new phenomenon, but it most certainly shakes things up with big names switching party platforms – as in the case with former President Donald J. Trump and Arizona Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. These two switches, among many others nationwide, are sending seismic shock waves through the nation and with conservatives.

What caused this shift again?

In 2004, Trump told CNN, “I probably identify more as a Democrat.” He cited economic stabilization. In 2007, Trump again told CNN that Republican Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, “could do the job,” but criticized the pair for what he called a “sad” performance.

However, through the decades, Trump has criticized both Democrats and Republicans for poor fiscal responsibility, economic stability and embracing America first strategies among other issues; including both recent former presidents Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama.

In many ways, Trump had become the new era and face of Reaganism – whether he intended to do so or not. Like Reagan, Trump, in his own words, expressed how the Democrat party also “left” him via means of what he called “deception.” His breaking point came during the end of the first Obama presidency. Soon after the start of Obama’s second term, Trump announced he was switching parties and would file as soon as he could to run for President.

And that’s where the answer is: Reagan kept his focus on uniting the nation under conservatism, he didn’t let the catastrophic waves in the party deter him from seeking country above party or mending the fences between the left and right. He criticized both sides but worked to bring both sides together. Whereas, one could argue, Trump, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr., were not at all interested in mending the growing divide. One could even argue all three played right into the volatile divisiveness of the divide. A side of conservatism that had remained mostly quiet, until recently. Liberalism experiences it too, and has just as long, lest we forget it’s not a one-party issue, it’s an all-American issue.

How were Reagan and Trump similar and/or dissimilar?

It was all in the heart of each of the former president’s messages – America first, American pride, back to the basics. That’s it in its simplest form if you strip away the political rhetoric and raging bull in a China shop’s antics. That’s the crucifix of the conservative battle cry and has been for over 100 years.

Some “conservatives” say they never trusted neither Reagan nor Trump because they crossed party lines – they did the unthinkable. To some, they put country above party loyalty and spoke to the heart of Americanism – the everyday, run-of-the mill voting classes. Others even say that despite conservative pushes by both Trump and Reagan, they still viewed both men as Democrats.

Just over 60 years later, most conservatives look back at Reagan and see him as a defining moment in conservatism; many applaud him for his gallant efforts in uniting conservatives along the entire political spectrum, not just the Republican conservatives. However, we are two years into the Biden Presidency, or two years post-Trump presidency, and we still have conservatives ripping other conservatives apart. Some go as far as to call themselves a “true conservative,” on both sides of the divide concerning support for or against Trump. Others call conservatives “RINO’s” or Republican in name only, depending on where they stand as it relates to current political issues, namely, Trump support or not.
This divide is so bad, we have Republican candidates, who claim to be conservative – although, one could contend their roll-call voting states otherwise – or giving calls to action to Democrats and encouraging them to crossover vote to keep her in office – cue, Liz Cheney.

For the life of me, I do not understand why she continues to beat a dead horse in such a manner – she isn’t just beating the Trump horse – she is beating any conservative who disagrees with her, conservatives who call her actions and voting habits out, or constituents who question her conservatism.

Whether you liked or didn’t like Trump, really is a non-issue, especially in the 2022 Midterms, the issue is why are political Republican/Conservative candidates and politicians still dividing the party when they should be working to mend it?

Not to echo Reagan, but in his October 1964 “Time for Choosing” speech endorsing Goldwater, he continued to carve out the new era of conservatism in his own unique vision, saying, “I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues confronting us cross party lines.” This is where his infamous “The line has been used, ‘We’ve never had it so good’,” came from.

If you take careful consideration and compare Trump’s presidential platform to this speech from Reagan as he campaigned for Goldwater and began his first gubernatorial campaign himself – you can almost identically parallel the two platforms, modernized of course.

“This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves,” Reagan said in his speech. “You and I are told, increasingly, we have to choose between a left or right. Well, I’d like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There’s only an up or down – and regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.”

Eerily similar to both Trump’s battle cries and all conservatives, whether they liked or did not like Trump. Both men, Reagan and Trump, learned from FDR the importance of speaking to the common man and/or woman in the country – and offering them encouragement, comfort and reassurance, while simplifying complex national and/or political issues.

However, maybe it’s time to begin a new in 2022 for conservatism, where we mend the fences of our own house so we can mend the divide in America by reaching across the aisle to truly work for Americans and our collective needs, wants and desires. This nit-picking isn’t going to solve anything – at best, it will continue to fracture conservatism, which could possibly mean no conservatives would get elected to the highest offices of our nation in the future.

I firmly believe that had Liz Cheney focused on repairing conservatism as a whole, including reconciling with Republican conservatives as well as other party-affiliated conservatives, she might have had a chance to retain her seat. Some, including herself, might call herself a “moderate,” but even to us real moderates, she has done a great deal of ostracization and harm. As an out-sider looking into both the Republican and Democratic parties, it feels like Cheney has been on a modern-day witch-hunt, which, irrevocably harmed her. Some might argue she is “bringing women back to the Republican party” in a post-Trump era. I would argue – not a chance in hell, I’ll stay team Gold as long as there are Liz’s and Mitt Romney’s in the Republican party, and I know I’m not alone in that sentiment as a conservative woman. It’s one of the many reasons why the Libertarian party has picked up a roughly 43% increase of conservative women since 2006 according to the National Libertarian Party Committee – and last I checked that number nearly doubled in rate in 2021.

Country before party – if we are to preserve conservatism, we are going to need to work together and stop name-calling, nit-picking, mudslinging and the like. We must be a united front, or we will lose from here on out. November will be the true litmus test for conservatism in America.

More of Reagan’s speeches can be found in the Reagan Library online archives at, www.reaganlibrary.gov.