The Conservative Excuse

I am a self-described progressive, and I refuse to apologize for it. As I reflect on the disappointing finish of the democrats in an election like no other in history, I am thinking long and hard about what it means to be a “conservative.” How do we make sense of a poll that says that 70% of people who identify as republican believe conspriacy theories about voter fraud? How exactly are we expected “to try to work with” people who believe that prominent Americnas progressives are part of a pediophilic Satanic cult? Why does the Biden compaign feel they have to win handedly in order to have a sitting president concede respectfully? What does this say about the state of American democracy?

As I sat and listened to Trump’s conspriacy theories, I was taken back to a time when being conservative was used as an excuse to undermine democracy. Years ago when I was a young member of the League of Women Voters I got into a heated discussion with someone who self-described as “very conservative.” At the time there was a mental health care crisis in my state. There were hundreds of people waiting to get desparately ill loved ones into care. He saw a role for the private sector. I wanted government to invest. We clashed. But I should have counted myself lucky. There were things this self-descirbed “conversative” did not do. He did not try to tell me that the problem was a hoax invented by the fake media and the deep state. He didn’t argue the science of mental illness, and when I was the one tending to want to talk over, he did something that I can imagine few “conservatives” do today. He stepped back and listened. He told me he cared. He used the word compromise. We can, and should, always make room at the table for this kind of conservative at the table. He was a good person; he wanted the best for the citizens who elected him. He was a true public servant.

It would be wrong to demonize Trump’s supporters. It would be even more wrong not to do some soul-searching about why so many Americans are willing to support a man who is so clearly antithetical to America’s stated values. It is time for progressives to ask the question of what we haven’t done right that this man has so much a grip on so many people. As an Iowan, I can see what this election tells us about the neglect of rual America by both parties. But, fundamentally, Trump’s supporters are wrong. Part of citizenship is knowing a conspriracy theory when you hear one, demanding honesty, and speaking truth to power. These are not “conservative” or “progressive” issues. They are issues of good governance and political responsibility. If America is to truly heal, it will begin when “conservative” is no longer an excuse to undermine democracy.