Last week I had a seasoned Republican state representative ask if I would give him support in his bid for state Senate in 2022. The first thing that came to mind was that while I knew his name, I had no idea of his principles. One would assume that because he is a Republican he supports business, is fiscally conservative, and values the Constitution. But, government response to COVID-19 shows this is not necessarily the case. If we cannot rely on our elected officials to uphold conservative values during times of uncertainty then what good are they? All decisions and behaviors from the initial “two weeks to slow the spread” until now requires pause to evaluate what individual GOP officials advocated for and what they blindly and willingly supported.
Let’s get back to Mr. State Representative. Like a true millennial, the first place I looked to find more information on him was social media. But, I didn’t look at what he posted today on Facebook or tweeted yesterday on Twitter. I went back to the beginning of the coronavirus response and lockdowns nationwide. Some things that I was looking for were: Did he support the concept that government closing businesses was an overreach? Did he idly stand by while government decided the essential and non-essential? Did he condemn people being allowed to protest in mass groups while others were being told they couldn’t go to work? Did he bend the knee to the Marxist terrorist group Black Lives Matter? Did he support taxes or spending over budget? My initial research showed that based on all of his social media activity he was merely plain vanilla. He made no outright comments on any of these issues. Further research into the bills he has sponsored and co-sponsored didn’t change my opinion. Can someone who is representing conservative values with vanilla hues honestly fight and advocate against the ideas currently being supported by Democrats? If we have learned anything from this pandemic it’s that we need conservative leaders with a spine. We need leaders that are not afraid to be of the minority opinion. Mr. State Representative didn’t fit the bill.
I know I don’t represent the conservative millennial vote in its entirety, but candidates who believe in liberty have become our front-runners for high office. We need and want more leaders like Governor Kristi Noem, who never locked down South Dakota during COVID-19, and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who prohibited municipalities from issuing fines and penalties for not wearing a mask. We want more representatives like Anthony Sabatini, also from Florida, sponsoring bills against things like mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations.
Mr. State Representative should realize that those who are idly standing by and not actively engaged in the fight for liberty will be looked over for high office by true conservatives. We will be less inclined to vote for them if we can support someone who has been actively resisting the draconian measures that have accompanied COVID-19. The GOP should realize the millennial vote is not the future, it is the now. Perhaps we should remember what the greatest of our founding fathers said in times of national strife. “Where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their country?” George Washington was right then and he’d be right now.
