It’s the Primaries, Stupid!
Periodically, people ask me: how do we save America? Is it too late? Have we gone too far down the road to socialism?
I usually respond by paraphrasing James Carville, who in the 1992 presidential campaign preached to the Democrats “It’s the Economy, Stupid!”
My paraphrase to conservatives is “IT’S THE PRIMARIES, STUPID!”
Why?
Because in many House and Senate races the key vote is April, May, June, July, etc., i.e., the primaries.
By November, the candidates will have been selected. The options are limited. Almost always between a Republican and a Democrat. However, most of the Republicans on the November ballot talk like conservatives but govern as Big Government Republicans. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
For more than a century, conservatives have aimed most all of their political firepower at the wrong target. We’ve focused on defeating Big Government Democrats while ignoring the first and most important obstacle to governing as conservatives: Big Government Republicans.
Establishment Republicans talk like conservatives when they’re running for office. But once elected, most fall in line behind Republican leadership that prioritizes expanding government, cutting deals, and avoiding conflict.
They don’t offer a real alternative. Instead, they offer a slower version of the same problem, just “Democrat-lite.”
That’s how you end up with a Republican majority that still grows government, still feeds the bureaucracy, and still leaves voters wondering what, exactly, changed.
If an effective, limited-government conservative is already in office and running again—fine. Support them. But if not, conservatives need to find one. If no one steps forward, then maybe it’s time for you to lead.
Because we don’t just need conservative candidates. We need conservative warriors.
Yes, running for office is uncomfortable. Yes, it’s difficult. And yes, you might lose. But even in defeat, the cause advances.
You can bring new people into the process, raise issues that would otherwise be ignored, and force incumbents to respond. In other words, you shift the conversation. Over time, you change the direction of the party.
That’s exactly what happened in the late 1970s and 1980s, when conservatives began to organize, challenge the status quo, and rally behind candidates who actually believed what they said.
The result? A movement strong enough to nominate and elect Ronald Reagan twice and reshape the political landscape.
But even then, the job wasn’t finished. The Republican Party remained divided between those committed to conservative principles and those more comfortable managing the growth of government rather than stopping it.
That divide still exists today, and it will continue to exist until conservatives stop treating primaries as optional because that’s where the real decisions are made. By November, you’re not deciding the direction of the country. You’re living with the choices made months earlier.
So, if conservatives are serious about limited government, about constitutional principles, and about restoring freedom, the path forward is clear.
Contest every race. Recruit candidates who are willing to stand on principle—not just campaign on it. Support those candidates early, before the establishment clears the field. When necessary, challenge those who claim to represent conservative values but fail to deliver.
The greatest threat to the conservative cause isn’t just the Democrats. It’s the Republicans who say one thing to get elected—and do another once they’re in office.
If that sounds harsh, it shouldn’t. It should sound familiar.
The good news is that more and more conservatives are waking up to this reality. They’re organizing, running, and engaging in primaries that once went uncontested.
That’s how change begins, not all at once and not in a single election. But race by race, primary by primary.
The future of the conservative movement, America, Western Civilization won’t be decided in November. It will be decided long before that—during the primaries.
IT’S THE PRIMARIES, STUPID!
