From My Arena #22: A New Beginning

Amigos,

Tuesday's result was hard for conservatives, and for those of us who believe in the conservative philosophy. But I've been saying this all week on Telemundo, Univision and other media outlets, and I believe it: this is a great opportunity. Instead of sitting around lamenting, this is the moment for a mea culpa. To go back to our original foundations, to review our values and our principles, to go back to Roger Scruton, to the free-market thinkers who shaped us, and to look honestly at where we failed as conservatives and where our leaders failed.

Something became clear to me on Tuesday. The voter is more sophisticated now, and certainly that includes Hispanics. Regardless of party registration, if the person he gave his trust to doesn't deliver, he goes looking for another political horizon. I don't think the Democrats had better proposals than the Republicans. I think it was a combination of things. Bad candidates in some places, Texas being the clearest case. And a lot of people who didn't vote for the Democratic agenda so much as they voted against what they feel hasn't been delivered under the current administration. They feel the economy hasn't improved for them, they feel at a disadvantage, and they decided to try another option.

I've been drawing a parallel with Latin America for weeks. I don't believe people there are becoming conservative because they vote for candidates on the right. The political party lines have been blurring, and what people want is real solutions. Security has always been the priority in Latin America, but if four years go by without security and without economic opportunity, they vote for someone else, left or right, it doesn't matter. I think that's what happened here.

But if the Democrats believe these voters have come back to them, that's a misreading too. If they don't do things well, in two years that voter very likely goes looking again. And that's where we as conservatives need to have done our homework.

Something that makes me happy: this voter didn't fall for the temptation of populism, of money offered in exchange for a vote. I believe in our conservative principles and free markets, and I believe our platform is much better than the left's. But sometimes it's very easy to fall into the temptation of the left's populism, of promising free things just to win. We have a better agenda, one that promises freedom and the empowerment of the individual over the State. We just have to be clearer about how people can feel that through legislation, without falling into the paternalistic state that gives everything away.

The pendulum clearly swung to the other side, but that doesn't mean it's permanent. The conservative voter has put the conservative agenda and conservative leaders on probation. They can come back. Now it's on us to do the work better. From my side, that work is here at Red Latina Network Foundation: talking to people, in Spanish, and explaining why our platform and why conservatives have a better path than what the populism of the left offers. My battle is stronger now than ever, but I have faith that people see through it. What we propose is always better and more elevated than what the left promises. Our leaders have to be honest and humble enough to acknowledge defeat and make the changes needed to regain voters’ trust. They must never forget who put them in power and that they are there to serve the people, not political interests.

FROM THE ARENA THIS WEEK

I was on Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the midterm elections, for 10 hours. Watch the clip.

Part of what I told José Díaz-Balart on Telemundo as the results came in. Watch the clip. My full comment here.

I sat down with Telemundo for their podcast Un Día a la Vez, hosted by Julio Vaqueiro, a deep conversation on what comes next in American politics, alongside Rosario Marín, former Treasurer of the United States. Watch here.

On Univision I made the case for the mea culpa: conservatives have the better path, as long as we don’t copy the left’s populism. Watch the clip.

NEXT SUNDAY, FROM ISRAEL

Next week's edition comes to you from Israel, with the Future Leaders Delegation. It will be a fascinating trip, and without a doubt Red Latina Network Foundation will come out of it stronger, with more ideas to keep working to preserve our Western civilization. We'll also be filming new footage for Cautivo.

ONE FINAL REQUEST

Forward this to one person who should be reading it.

What are you watching in the Americas right now? Hit reply, I read every response.

Until next Sunday,

Cesar Grajales
President & Founder | Red Latina Network Foundation
+1 (786) 260-9283
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