![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff300fc0e-cff8-49d4-ab17-5038af71f2c5_1766x949.png)
I’m a fairly new conservative, having converted post-2020. Honestly, I don’t even like the term, but most people understand it, and it makes engaging with others easier.
But as we settle into the new year and anticipate the insanity of yet another escalation in what will be one of humanity’s most formative decades, it’s probably worth re-examining our political philosophy.
I have said many times that the modern American right wing tends to overintellectualize, focuses too much on policy papers, and keeps failing to cultivate actual political power. Today, I will deviate a bit and indulge this for a moment. Why? Our movement is in clear disarray. I know a lot of commentators have said that this is actually a good thing, that it will purify the right wing and make it stronger. But, that’s not what I’m seeing.
I’m seeing pretty bitter rivalries form among different conservative factions. I don’t think this is something that will be smoothed over by November. Even if we win, a lack of unity will diminish our impact in the long run.
CalendarGate
The recent CalendarGate debacle tells me that the hard-liners are not doing any favors for our movement as a whole. If you haven’t heard, long story short: a conservative beer company launched a calendar featuring photos of right-wing female influencers, which has many conservative purists upset. Here’s what it looks like:
Hard-liners took to X to complain about this, some even claiming it’s demonic.
For those who aren’t terminally online like I am, you should know that hard-liners spent a lot of time talking about this. Meanwhile, as Tim Pool pointed out, “Republicans are complaining about a calendar while Democrats just removed Donald Trump from the ballot in Maine.”
Not only does this inordinately capture our attention (which is absolutely zero-sum), it creates damaging schisms in the movement. Among the models are:
Riley Gaines, the swimsuit-clad woman on the calendar’s cover, is an NCAA swimmer from the University of Kentucky who has been an incredible advocate against trans “women” in sports
Kim Klacik and Catalina Lauf, who both ran for elected office, with the latter also being appointed as a US Commerce Department advisor by Trump himself
Ashley St. Clair and others who have been powerful commentators and voices for the movement
This is really who the outspoken hard-liners want to pick fights with?
This proves to me that many of these people prioritize their narrow sense of fundamentalist morality over wrestling power away from the woke, the communists, and the postmodernists. We can tolerate them, but ultimately, if they can’t help us all get on the same page — or worse, divide us — they are not our friends.
There are unfortunately few conservatives with the vision to see what we actually need to win, and not just choir-preach. Among our primary needs, if not the most important, is to convert as many centrists, independents, and classical liberals to our cause. If we cannot achieve this, we will lose for the foreseeable future. The window of restoring America is closing, and the right-ward “pendulum swing” is not guaranteed.
New York Nationalism
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1b3e893-7ee8-45d5-9636-445056c77842_990x768.png)
When I think about New York politics, I think about the people I know personally. They are my bellwether. Many are actually in the middle, but can’t bring themselves to vote Republican for a variety of reasons. Among the top reasons is the conservative hardline on issues that matter to them: abortion, drug legalization, etc.
I’m not saying that we should be personally permissive about this, but to fall into frivolous moralizing feeds into the Bible-thumping, sexually repressed caricature of conservatives. We are proving these stereotypes correct when we generate misplaced outrage with something like CalendarGate.
This kind of stuff leaves a bad taste in my mouth and makes it hard to sell “conservativism” to New Yorkers. I know some commentators like to make sweeping dismissals of states like New York, California, or Washington, but we can actually win here. The New York 2022 gubernatorial election result was 53 percent to 47 percent. That’s striking distance.
The platform I want to sell to my fellow New Yorkers doesn’t seem to exist in any codified way. It was somewhat modeled by Republican Lee Zeldin in his run against Democrat Kathy Hochul. He supported Trump, but didn’t make it the center of his campaign. He is against abortion, but said he would respect existing New York law permitting it. He showed us a balanced approach that makes his own convictions clear, but gives room for the plurality inherent to New York.
With this approach, Zeldin pulled 2.7 million votes across the state, with just over 500,000 of those coming from NYC.
I care deeply about this not only because it is needed in New York, but because it also represents a winning strategy nationwide. To me “conservatism” isn’t the right term to rally around, at least not here.
I’m outlining a vision for something new: New York Nationalism. It’s the dream of taking the best elements of New York’s vibrant pluralism (mistakenly called “diversity”) and connecting it to the suburban and rural sentiment that pervades our state — as well as many enclaves within the city. Without this balance, NYC is San Francisco and the rest of the state is basically Pennsylvania or Connecticut.
It’s important to me to have a cohesive political philosophy as my everyday “operating system” to think and navigate the issues. Right now, the national discourse isn’t cutting it. If anything, it muddles and complicates what should be simple, swift, and powerful. And I’m sure many of you feel this way, too.
I’ll be tinkering more with this idea in the coming weeks and months.
If you enjoy LBRTY Digital and our mission of guiding New York toward a new era of prosperity and freedom, consider joining our inner circle of supporters with a paid subscription. For just the cost of a couple coffees a month, you’ll help establish LD as a powerful alternative to the mainstream NY media landscape.