Former Oklahoma Republican Congressman speaks out against current conservatism

by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer

Conservative thinker Mickey Edwards served eight terms as a Republican Congressman in Oklahoma. He also chaired the Republican Policy Committee, was a founding trustee of the Conservative Heritage Foundation and a National Chairman of the American Conservative Union, recently appeared in a segment of The Bill Moyers Show to discuss his solidarity and opinion of the Republican Party.

A traditionally extreme conservative, Edwards presents to Moyer a viewpoint of current politics that would today be considered more liberal than in previous years – although he has not changed at all.

There is “a problem with the entire system, both parties,” Edwards says, dubbing himself a man without a party. In his explanation, he says that both the Republican and Democratic parties are unwilling to step down and share ideas to genuinely better our nation.

“At the end, you have to compromise,” he says in the segment. “You can’t do anything unless finally you compromise.

“People on the left and the right are so full of certitude, and so unwilling to budge on what they think is the only right answer, that we stop functioning as an American people working collectively to solve our problems.”

The tendency to speak only to like-minded people and to not be open to a civil conversation with people on a different side, to even be combative, is the new America.

With this reasoning in mind, ask yourself to list your Facebook friends, or at least the ones you mutually follow. Many have never seen one post that supports the Republican or Democratic Party. Does this failure to compromise weaken us as a voice of the American people?

“I would think because you don’t agree with me on a particular issue you must be a very bad person,” he says. “That’s nonsense.”

In the glory days of his political voice and conservatism, Edwards maintained a list of ideals for his job position. He kept in mind the importance of:

1. Listening seriously to constituents – maybe not always agreeing, but certainly listening;

2. Thinking and learning about issues, getting as much information as possible before making decisions, and

3. Following the Constitution.

As a government leader, Mickey Edwards wasn’t supposed to follow party leaders or campaign contributors, or sign pledges before he even read the bill or understood the circumstances.

“Anybody who goes to Washington having signed a pledge to do anything other than that is really undercutting the whole purpose of them being part of the government.”

Edwards has reservations regarding the current major Republicans and feels that the Party has lost its actual conservative principles.

While Republicans boast that they have not raised taxes in over 20 years, Edwards calls their bluff:

“Republicans led us into two wars without asking us or telling us how we'd pay for it, they paid vast expenditures to fight terrorism, and gave big tax breaks to the top earning and richest Americans,” he explains. “It’s certainly not conservatism…it’s not rational, and it’s not adult.”

But how will we ever make true change for successful politics?

As one party spites another, “The idea that, ‘No, I’m not ever going to do this, no matter the circumstances, no matter if we’re at war or whatever…’ it’s a 12-year-old kind of thinking,” he says.

Compromise, instead, is key.

Mickey Edwards has also released two political books to explain his standpoint: Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost – and How It Can Find Its Way Back and The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans.

The Gayly – 12/4/2015 @ 12:51 p.m. CST