Empowerment, Not Entitlement
Oct. 21 ,2014
By Brian Goldberg | The Save Jersey Blog
As a middle-class, Jewish Republican from heavily Democrat Essex County (and, no, I’m not the only one…), I’ve seen firsthand the number of “closet conservatives” who won’t join our Party because of popular myths characterizing us as, well, take your pick: prejudiced, having a war on women, or out of touch with young voters.
During the course of my recent U.S. Senate campaign, I talked about the need for outreach to these communities that have been traditionally underrepresented in the Republican Party. There, we can find lots of conservatives who just need to know that we’re welcoming and the myths aren’t true. But, it is a two-part process to grow our Party.
Before we can even seek out potential converts, it is helpful to have a plan to bring them on board. For too long, our Party has done a poor job of fighting off the label our opponents gave us, the “Party of No”, the party who always says, “We don’t want this,” “We are against that.” Instead, we need to embrace a positive message, one that our friends, neighbors and families can feel proud to get behind.
Well, how about turning that “Party of No” nonsense right on its head? The conservative message and platform isn’t negative, it is actually as optimistic and positive as can be. We believe that if you give individuals a chance to succeed, they will find that Success. We believe that small, limited government should mostly stay out of the lives of its citizens, but when it does get involved, the job of government should be to help the governed to succeed, not simply help the governed. We don’t believe you are destined for a life of failure and therefore need the government to protect you from your own actions.
We are the Party of Optimists!
https://savejersey.com/2014/10/empowerment-not-entitlement/
