A Woman's Place is in the Conservative Movement

On November 5, conservatives burned with resolution regarding the need to rebrand and reimage the Republican party or at the very least the conservative message. Recently the discussion has become less heated as many of us have stepped back to consider what needs to be done. In spite of taking some time for reflection and pragmatism, others have been less than silent. Suggestions as to what the Republican party should do have been free flowing. Many pundits see the need to moderate the Republican party and make Republicans more like Democrats. The RINO has been held up as the gold standard for the party suggesting that there should be a large squishy party that stands for nothing and is willing to give up positions in the name of kumbaya. Kathleen Parker wrote a recent column suggesting that GOD is the problem with the Republican party and the sooner that GOD is out of the way, the sooner the Republican party can get on with the business at hand. Mort Kondracke posited that the problem is that the conservatives listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham and this is the root of their problem.

On the other hand, the Dontgo Movement has been revitalized and repositioned to be a grassroots conservative voice in the alternative media, Team Sarah has continued to recruit members with nearly 60,000 women willing to continue to speak out for conservative causes and a newly formulated coalition of conservative women bloggers, Smart Girl Politics, has formed with an active face in the blogosphere and social media. These outlets are designed to take back the real conservative message of smaller government, fiscal responsibility and the socially conservative message that is needed to take back our government from the hands of a socialist DINO. Robert Robb has a cogent column on what this will entail that should be a jumping off point for all conservative movements.

These conservative grassroots/ netroots organizations have the task of organizing and connecting all manner of social, fiscal and religious conservatives together in a cohesive network with a unified message that can begin to compete with the network that the Democrats so successfully wrought to achieve their November victory. While "now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party" as the old typing test says, it may be even more important that "all good women come to the aid of their party."

It is well known in the field of health care that women are their most important focus group. Women have babies and choose a medical caregiver and a hospital or birthing center for this event. They are usually the one who chooses a pediatrician and this choice usually comes from interactions with other moms or with their obstetrician or midwife. Later when it is time for hubby to be dragged kicking and screaming to an internist or specialist, it is usually the wife who does the nagging, the dragging and the choosing. If your child goes to something other than the local public school, it is likely that mom is a driving force in the selection of a private school, and if, God forbid, as Joy Behar says, you are a knuckle dragging idiot who home schools their children, then it is likely that mom bears the brunt of the lesson planning, teaching, homework and time management in order to make it happen. (And just so that I don't get hate mail, this is in no way an indictment against those dads who have taken on role reversal for any one of a variety of excellent reasons--my husband is one of you!)

As women, we hold the future of our children and grandchildren in our hands and it is our responsibility to give them a bright and secure future. We have the chance to teach them the values and factual history that they are no longer learning in school. We should be members of the PTA and school board to fight for the things that are missing in our public schools. We should be engaged in our communities to be sure that we are electing officials who speak for our beliefs and values. We are the ones who should be working for conservative candidates, and especially for strong conservative women candidates. We are usually the volunteers that work in charities and on the boards of non-profit organizations that support conservative causes. The internet has made our world very small and communication very easy. It is high time that we use these mass media tools to educate and energize conservative women everywhere.

The power of a coalition of smart, articulate and educated women cannot be underestimated. We need to engage conservative women from all walks of life into a force with which to be reckoned. We need to be sure that conservative women are as politically articulate (or perhaps even more so) as conservative men. We need to walk hand in hand with our conservative men, just as we walk with them hand in hand in our families. We are the spouses and mothers of our military men and women who hold the home together while loved ones serve far away. We recently learned that conservative women are hated for their clarity of position, but that should only bolster our resolve. Let's face it, women are dedicated, focused, altruistic and capable of great acts of strength, that is why we are mothers. These are characteristics that we bring to the conservative table, too.

We are entering the frenetic Christmas season and one of my favorite Christmas jokes will soon begin circulating through the email channels.

Do you know what would have happened if it had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?

They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and brought practical gifts.

This is what conservative women are made of and what the conservative movement needs for the future!