Herron: Republicans could learn from the Tories

After the 1988 election that sent George H.W. Bush to the White House, many Democrats realized that their party had lost touch with mainstream America. Part of their solution was to establish the Democratic Leadership Council and to form a coalition of “New Democrats.” According to the DLC, the goal of the New Democrats was “to modernize our policies and programs to keep up with the changing times.”

Today, if the Republican Party wishes to achieve future electoral success, they should follow a similar path. As conservatives try to reinvent themselves, they should look where they’ve often looked in the past: across the Atlantic and to London, where the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, appears likely to gain control of the government in the 2010 general election.

The Conservative Party — also referred to as the Tories — has been out of power for 12 years and has worked hard at creating a platform that will appeal to voters while remaining loyal to the party’s traditional principles.

On Oct. 8, Cameron told the party’s conference, “Ask me what a Conservative government stands for, and the answer is this: We will reward those who take responsibility and care for those who can’t.” The new Tory philosophy has created a platform of the compassionate conservatism that Republicans have spoken of in recent years.

In the wake of the recent financial crisis, Cameron has chosen to cast conservatives as the party of economic competence. He has promised to take on a debt crisis that includes a projected deficit for next year of more than £170 billion. He wishes to reform an ailing education system and improve government services such as the National Health Service. Generally, however, he believes that “radical social reform is what this country needs right now.”

Cameron said, “If you save money your whole life, you’ll be rewarded. If you start your own business, we’ll be right behind you. If you want to raise a family, we’ll support you. If you’re frightened, we’ll protect you. If you risk your safety to stop a crime, we’ll stand by you.”

Cameron does not wish to build a “Great Society,” but rather he would like to remove the impediments to it.

To American conservatives, this philosophy is nothing radical and certainly nothing new. But where the British conservatives differ from their American counterparts is on issues where the Republican Party has held a steadfast position — the environment and socio-cultural issues.

Cameron and the Tories have shown that they are environmentally responsible and willing to do what is necessary to move the country in a green direction. He has embraced numerous green policies such as a freeze on airport growth, taxes on workplace parking spots and gas guzzlers and restrictions on car advertising.

After all, part of conservatism is conservation. Republicans in the United States already have a role model who advocated environmentalism in former President Theodore Roosevelt, who protected more than 200 million acres of U.S. wilderness.

Edmund Burke wrote, “A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.” They have accepted that certain social forces are impossible to fight and that the best course of action is to harness these forces for the sake of social cohesion and balance.

Cameron has embraced same-sex partnerships as a tolerable component of a healthy society. American conservatives could do themselves a favor by realizing that gay marriage isn’t as much of an infringement of tradition as it is a pillar of social stability.

The theme of Cameron’s recent speech was “Family, Community, Country.” He desires to mend what he believes is a broken British society and a broken approach to governing. He wants to eliminate the policies that have corroded families, that have allowed crime to flourish and that have promoted irresponsible financial behavior. These are all problems that can be remedied from the bottom up and can be solved not through more government, but through less.

Surely, the problems that the United States faces are far different from those that Britain does. Yet our societies are remarkably similar, and the values we share are innumerable. They are also societies undergoing constant changes. Those who wish for electoral success must be prepared to address these changes.

The Republican Party could learn something from Cameron, and while they need not embrace his policies, they certainly must embrace a more modern and dynamic society.

E-mail Mason at mph20@pitt.edu.