An Open Letter to Tim Pawlenty

Almost everyone that reads David Brooks column today will disagree with it. Those on the left will read it and believe in their heart of hearts that all Republicans are really tiny minded ideologues who couldn’t care less about their neighbors. Those on the right will think that Brooks (as all big media does) fails to see the real Americans that talk radio, tea parties, and town hall meetings represent.

However, in the center of this great disagreement is great truth, and the bottom line on Brooks’ column is that he is right when he states, “The party is leaderless right now because nobody has the guts to step outside the rigid parameters enforced by the radio jocks and create a new party identity.”

There are a lot of conservatives that look at the cast of characters in media and as a good friend of mine says, “I wish they would get off my side.” I’m not wishing Glen Beck or Rush off of the air. They have a place and they can put pressure and raise stories that don’t get raised other places. But picking candidates isn’t their strong point. In order for them to be effective and to break through the media clutter they have to be out at the edges. They have to take risks and they have to fill time.

So, Gov. Pawlenty, I’m imploring not to take the media stuff too seriously on either side. Brooks is right in that getting out and talking to people will be the key. Health care has to be discussed, wars have to be evaluated, not all taxes are bad. The majority understands a president has to govern in that world, not the world that can cling to ideologies and sound bites. I think most of us also realize that we won’t always like your decisions. I don’t agree with you on a couple of big things, but I realize that knowing what specifically I disagree with you about is better than having you promise the moon and not deliver.

There is room for a conservative that tries to make sense somewhere besides the edges. It won’t always be comfortable, but to become that party that embraces disagreements and handles them well would be the real revolution.