Conservatives have a strength that is simultaneously a weakness: politics is necessary, but isn’t primary in our hearts or our minds.
This is right and just. But this means that we sometimes don’t pay enough attention when it really counts. Right now, many conservatives would love to be free of politics. But, for many of us, it’s primary season. We need to get out there now so that we can be ready to win in the fall.
Unlike the modern left, conservatives will never quite be able to invest the same interest in the political cycle. We believe politics was made for man and not man for politics. Political involvement has as its goal a proper government that protects and preserves so that human beings and their families can live in peace and prosperity as they serve God and neighbor. While political action might be a religious duty for us, it is not religion itself. “The first thing to say about politics,” as the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus put it, “is that politics is not the first thing.”
This is indeed a strength. Because it’s true, it keeps us sane. We may be very upset about the results of elections, but you don’t see stories about conservatives who need to have support animals, coloring books, or professional counselors at our schools or workplaces when we lose. We may not like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden, but they have not established rent-free residence in our heads as Donald Trump, as George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan before him all did in the minds of liberals.
Nor do we spend all our time in political meetings as do far too many on the left. “The problem with socialism,” Oscar Wilde famously complained, “is that it takes up too many evenings.” Conservatives rightly like our free evenings to be saved for our family, our friends, and our nighttime prayers.
But this very healthy view of politics can also give an unintended advantage to our opponents. Because we don’t think of politics as the first thing, we too often don’t think of it as a necessary thing. The reality is that, even if we aren’t terribly interested in politics, politics is very interested in us.
The American system of self-government really depends on a citizenry vigilant about taking care of things not just in November every two or four years, but also in the intervening times. Many conservatives will complain about the weakness of their own candidates in the fall, even as they admit that they didn’t take part in those primary elections in the spring that determined who would be on the ballot.
Yes, by November, you must go with the team you have on the floor. You don’t have much of a right to complain, however, if you didn’t do anything to help decide who is on that team.
Because Republicans hold the House of Representatives only by a razor-thin margin, there is every reason to be active in choosing representatives who will both win and vote for the things they say they promise to vote for. The same goes for candidates for Senate, for governorships, and for other statewide offices.
Starting in March, the 2026 primary season will really get going. In addition to my home state of Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Illinois will all have primary elections. The rest will take place over the following months, leading up to the election. Readers who don’t know when they are taking place in their own state can check the U.S. Vote Foundation’s list of primary elections.
In every state, it is worth working early on to make sure that the fall election brings good news and not bad. North Carolina is still a purple state, so getting good candidates for the House is very important. Not letting the Senate seat held by Thom Tillis flip this fall is critical. While deep blue Illinois might not have much of a chance of electing Republicans, getting decent candidates who can force Democrats to spend money on those races would be helpful in other races this fall.
Even in deep red states, however, it is extremely important to get to the polls this fall. Here in Texas, there are multiple Republican primaries where voters have the opportunity to select Trump-aligned candidates against more establishment figures.
It’s not just federal government offices, either. Who your governor, attorney general, or comptroller is has a great effect on whether your state is going to be safe, fiscally solvent, and effective.
No, politics shouldn’t eat up our lives in an unhealthy way as it has for so many of our liberal friends and relatives. We shouldn’t give up thinking of politics as not the first thing in our lives. We should, however, think of politics as one of our regular duties that demands our thoughtful and prayerful attention.
Primary elections don’t get as much attention as do general elections, but they’re very important. Even if it’s not the first thing in our lives, voting for our fall candidates is a right we should exercise diligently now in order to be happy in November.
David P. Deavel teaches at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. A past Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute, he is a Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative. Follow him on X (Twitter) @davidpdeavel.
Pray and vote.
Mr. Deavel. you are so right!! We Republicans must stick together and do what we can to put the right candidates in office in local, state and federal elections. It takes a little time to look up the candidates and read their statements and histories…but we do have Google, so use it! In AZ we vote on retention of judges as well. Their decision records can tell you whether they are conservative or liberal. Look them up if your state has them elected since their rulings can affect laws in your state. We must also turn out heavily if we are to win over the cheating, lying Democrats. If we out vote them enough, we can win!!
I worry always that Republicans take things for granted and do not take a strong offensive when dealing with the dirty pool of Democrats who will conspire to do anything to win. We have until November to make our brand work, to help people understand what has been accomplished since 47 too the WH and what we have to do to keep it going. If we just sit back, we will lose like the Red Wave NOT the few years ago. We cannot be smug or snug; we need to be active and on the job NOW.
Just do what the democrats do, vote early and often!
Send all members the lists of potential candidates and their potential constituents and contact info?
Text, call post on all SMs every positive contact get assist to reach more over and over again?
We are busy with life, but if situation ie. Rabid left not brought to heel life will likely be near impossible?
I will vote for sure but it just blows me away that all these idiots vote for these super dumb commies. It defies all common sense sense.
Thank you for this article ! All should read it !
TEXAS REPUBLICANS get out and vote, now or on MARCH 3!!!
The problem is that the majority left watches the mainstream media and has bought the propaganda and has been indoctrinated. I don’t know about you guys, but the circle at work and around me thinks Trump is a liar, thief, etc. If I even “try” to educate them, they pretty much alienate me. I don’t know how to get through to them. The left’s propaganda is so believable, to them. : (
Doesn’t early voting start in Texas this week, if it hasn’t already?
Also, the readers here should be encouraging their MAGA friends and family to vote.
My husband and I look at the Pro Life website which will undoubtedly lead to the best Republicans to vote for in elections.
How much more must left be off the rail, before the voter sees them for what they are . Cortez, Whitmer, Butigieg Incapable, incompetent, no clue. Spanberger dangerous and treacherous , these are the people aspiring to become dems. presidential nominees. Voter better take off the rose tinted glasses, and the head out of the noose ,this is an ugly, dangerous reality . Voter must realize it is his back , which they’ll use to claim up . New Yorkers got they wish and this is only the beginning.
We might not want to eat sleep and dream politics but being informed and know what’s going on in your state, city and country is a must. You can’t just have the democrats screaming lies day in and day out. And turn a deaf ear. One day all these politicians who want to destroy this country and President Trump have to be brought into a court of law for their actions and vitriol they have been lying about for decades and call them about the omission of truth and admit they made a mistake under Obama and Biden regime by allowing millions of criminals into this country and aliens who only are here to take the riches America has to offer and then return to their native land. In meantime many poor citizens are suffering the after effect of that policy. The criminals in our jails were let out. Many families have suffered loss of a child or wife or sister at the hands of of these criminals Biden invited into our country. And today still American citizens are being killed with their opposition to deportation of these criminals. Judges are making up laws and do we hear an objection? No. When a democrats does something immoral it’s Pooh poohed by the democrats. Nothing to see here. But a Rep does the same, it’s the crime of the century. Killing by democrats, pedophilia committed by democrats and killing by the illegal criminals is applauded by the democrats. Because they don’t live in America, they have left America a long time ago. And want to make her the USSR of the west. Little by little we are all forced into that lifestyle. Hundreds of cities are being run by Muslims. States are run by them, they are members of Congress. Sharia law the democrats love. That’s why they support Hamas and hate the Jews. They are living the dream of the Hitler era they have been creating for decades. And finally they have a president they made a Hitler out of so they can do their nazi thing and blame Trump. Every day 24/7 we are being brainwashed by the legacy media. And what do we hear from the right? Total silence. Tuesday SOTUS will be a debacle of such proportions this will carry the dems to victory in November. Legacy media will see to it. The courts will tie President Trump’s hands. We need to rise up and take to the streets. Protest in Minneapolis and any other city where they oppose the laws of the land. If we don’t, welcome to the USSR of the West.
I was a 2022 Republican county delegate in CO who witnessed a party divided. Now the CO republicans are not only run by RINOS, but they’re financially broke. I’m not optimistic about the future of Cali-rado.
What the Republicans need to do is get more aggressive and visual about the Presidents positive successes. Show photos of the illegals that have been caught along with their criminal histories, much like a “wanted” poster .Talk about the money saved through DOGE and the programs that were eliminated as well, etc. You get the picture. The Republicans need to learn how to toot their own horns to get their points and successes across because the public soon forgets the achievements that were made early on.
BUT the Uniparty Blocks the way ahead RNC DC Estd
So how do I help bail without falling into the ocean?
This is more true now than it has ever been. This is NOT your parents democrat party! JFK was more conservative than many of todays republicans, but today’s democrat party promotes violence, socialism, and communism. And they do it in a way that looks attractive to so many people. So this year, the first thing to say about politics is that politics HAS to be the first thing. Your kids future, your grandkids future, and our future depend on it. The truth of the matter is that the complacency of republican voters in local and midterm elections is what got us to where we are now. If it doesn’t end this year, there’s no going back. It isn’t someone else’s problem anymore, it’s ours.
I Vote , but with every passing year I am inclined to think it”s voting is rigged to the left .
Every sane Democrat, all independents, and all those pearl clutching, conservatives who like to complain about the state of our country but don’t vote need to VOTE! Just because Trump is not on the ballot in name, his whole administration is on the ballot. IF we let the Dems win back the House and Senate, we can kiss the remainder of Trumps term goodbye. They will do everything dirty they can to undermine him and us by destroying what he has accomplished. Everyone who loves this country and does not want it to go the way of New York City, California, Virginia, Illinois, Washington state, and all the other blue states and cities needs to haul yourself out and Vote these devils out. You should know the Dems will tell you what you want to hear then turn around and stick the knife in our backs! All you have to look at is New York City and Virginian to see what these idiots (and communists) are doing to us. I don’t care what they call themselves, there is no such thing as a “Democratic Socialist”. That’s and oxymoron!!!!
I say, voting is one of our most needed activity, You have no excuse to complain if you do not vote. Some of our media are to blame for not doing the due reporting of issues. I trust AMAC reporting, and only three others.
The biggest problem I face is this year our district changed from 3 to 1 in NC. I do t know any of the new names or faces running. I have no idea of where to find information on what the vote for or their stance. Can you help in that challenge?
“Conservatives have a strength that is simultaneously a weakness: politics is necessary, but isn’t primary in our hearts or our minds”.Wow! If that’s not a back-handed compliment, then what is? My conservative politics, as well as my Christian religion, are based on principles I practice daily. Whereas my religion is based on the Ten Commandments, my conservative politics are based on the trinity of: In God We Trust, Liberty, and E pluribus unum.
I have to admit that the tone of your opening statement piqued my curiosity to read further.
It’s interesting that whenever the party needs something to be done in effect, voting, getting out the vote, they turn to the
Conservative wing of the party. Only later, to forget how they won the election.
Your observation that this is a voter’s problem, and specifically a conservative voter’s problem, and not the party’s problem, is amazing.
A little history may clarify my position. Ronald Reagan, a conservative, won the 1980 and 1984 Presidential elections in a landslide. President Bush, riding on the coattails of a conservative, won the 1988 election and lost the 1992 election, when he deviated from conservatism. Twelve years of conservative wins, and who does the party run in 1996? Bob Dole was a moderate loser. In 2000, the party ran another moderate Bush two, and he barely squeezed out a win. Lastly, the party in 2008 and 2012, gave us two more moderate losers, after the conservative Tea Party delivered a 63-seat House win in 2010. You would have thought that with this type of a losing record the party would have learned a valuable lesson.
In 2016 they tried to run Jed Bush another moderate lose. And we have not even touched on the non-commital opposition republican Congress.
In summary this is not a conservative voter’s problem, it is a Republican Party Problem.
I am an independent voter in the People’s democratic republic of Connecticut, where the Republican Party always fails in the congressional, Senate, and gubernatorial races. Because they have no backbone and appease the democrat fascist party.
Yes, it does take time to investigate candidates; however, there are conservative organizations that can minimize that time. iVoterGuide, an AFA affiliate, provides well-researched and objective data on candidates across the country (voting records, interviews, links to campaign site, questionnaires, etc.) Each candidate has a thorough profile to review for yourself. I also found a great site that provided links to campaign sites of judges running in Texas, of which there were many.
Vote for those true conservatives over party players who may go against voter ID. That’s how to elect maga.