Those running conservative GOP campaigns find themselves in a strong national environment, but it is always difficult to start a campaign. Some challenges affect anyone, no matter the party or political ideology. There are particular issues, though, which affect only conservative candidates Illinois 2014.
Politics challenges anyone who feels the desire to run for office. There is always a petition process, requiring people to gather a certain number of names. Then there is fundraising, since running for office is expensive whether running a national or a local campaign. There are any number of campaigns that do not succeed because they are underfunded.
On the Right, raising funds is generally a by-product of strong support among conservatives at the outset. Voters on the Right are highly suspicious of candidates who are phony conservatives, those who might support the Second Amendment or lean budgets, but who are liberal in other ways. The challenge in steering wide of that status is that the Right is split into warring factions, and wars within ideologies are typically more bitter than those between factions.
The paleoconservative or "paleocon" faction is old, but small in number. This faction, influential through "The American Conservative" and other online venues, emphasizes old-fashioned, traditional virtues perceived as threatened by everything from liberalism to modern life in general. This isn't just a small faction, but a faction that includes many people with racist views poisonous to a wider campaign even when they don't reflect those of the candidate.
Racist views, whether in the candidate or those associated in any way with the campaign, are political suicide for good reason, making "paleocons" generally unelectable. The Tea Party, to give a prominent example, was highly successful during the 2010 elections as its candidates ran on Libertarian values, but it has faltered since drifting more toward a social conservative focus.
The Religious Right is a much larger group, and in many parts of Illinois such an identification is to one's advantage, though it is deeply unpopular in big cities such as Chicago. This group focuses on social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage. Its foreign policy ideas often begin and end with support for Israel.
Though typically voting Republican on election day, Libertarians do have a party of their own. They value strict Constitutionalism, free enterprise, and personal liberty. At times it appears that only a passion for gun ownership rights keeps them within the GOP tent at all, and they increasingly act as a third party on Election Day. Their emphasis upon non-intrusive government often pits them against the Religious Right.
Today's Republican mainstream is the heir to the "movement conservatism" of William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater. This is the broad center of the GOP that has produced all Republican Presidents since Ronald Reagan, and which controls the most influential media outlets whether conservative talk radio or Fox News. They were the faction associated with the Cold War, and to this day remain the political support for American power, both military and economic, across the world.
The mainstream's international emphasis is distasteful to both Libertarians and paleo-conservatives. Anyone on the Right looking to build a base needs to juggle these camps. When it comes to fundraising, though, the mainstream is where the money is most readily available.
Politics challenges anyone who feels the desire to run for office. There is always a petition process, requiring people to gather a certain number of names. Then there is fundraising, since running for office is expensive whether running a national or a local campaign. There are any number of campaigns that do not succeed because they are underfunded.
On the Right, raising funds is generally a by-product of strong support among conservatives at the outset. Voters on the Right are highly suspicious of candidates who are phony conservatives, those who might support the Second Amendment or lean budgets, but who are liberal in other ways. The challenge in steering wide of that status is that the Right is split into warring factions, and wars within ideologies are typically more bitter than those between factions.
The paleoconservative or "paleocon" faction is old, but small in number. This faction, influential through "The American Conservative" and other online venues, emphasizes old-fashioned, traditional virtues perceived as threatened by everything from liberalism to modern life in general. This isn't just a small faction, but a faction that includes many people with racist views poisonous to a wider campaign even when they don't reflect those of the candidate.
Racist views, whether in the candidate or those associated in any way with the campaign, are political suicide for good reason, making "paleocons" generally unelectable. The Tea Party, to give a prominent example, was highly successful during the 2010 elections as its candidates ran on Libertarian values, but it has faltered since drifting more toward a social conservative focus.
The Religious Right is a much larger group, and in many parts of Illinois such an identification is to one's advantage, though it is deeply unpopular in big cities such as Chicago. This group focuses on social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage. Its foreign policy ideas often begin and end with support for Israel.
Though typically voting Republican on election day, Libertarians do have a party of their own. They value strict Constitutionalism, free enterprise, and personal liberty. At times it appears that only a passion for gun ownership rights keeps them within the GOP tent at all, and they increasingly act as a third party on Election Day. Their emphasis upon non-intrusive government often pits them against the Religious Right.
Today's Republican mainstream is the heir to the "movement conservatism" of William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater. This is the broad center of the GOP that has produced all Republican Presidents since Ronald Reagan, and which controls the most influential media outlets whether conservative talk radio or Fox News. They were the faction associated with the Cold War, and to this day remain the political support for American power, both military and economic, across the world.
The mainstream's international emphasis is distasteful to both Libertarians and paleo-conservatives. Anyone on the Right looking to build a base needs to juggle these camps. When it comes to fundraising, though, the mainstream is where the money is most readily available.
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