Now, that harmony strains and threatens to break. Last week, a long report on the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour presented a parade of conservatives chastising one another and threatening to break ranks. Social conservatives threaten to walk away from the coalition if the moral agenda is not given priority. Economic conservatives claim that religious zealots are attempting to control politics in the name of a faith they do not share. Of course, the liberal journalist reported all of this with delight.
Real reform requires an enduring majority, a majority broadly-based and stable over time.
The warning signs are then apparent, and we can avoid the danger they portend only if we recover the foundation upon which all stable majorities in America must stand. That foundation lies among the simple truths that were the basis of our country at the beginning. These simple truths are the central principles of our country. They address themselves to our status as human beings and citizens, and cover all of our rights and all of our duties. Conservatives should understand that these principles apply just as much and in the same way to the economic as to the social issues, and just as much to the protection of the family as to the defense of private property.