So now, the hard work of persuasion can and must begin. Liberalism as an ideology may be in retreat, but it is institutionally powerful, and obstructers of conservative reform still dominate the media, the courts, the academy, and the interest groups sustained by a bloated federal government. No, there is nothing inevitable about the triumph of conservative ideas and ideals. And they can divide almost as easily as they unify. They have not persuaded the overwhelming majority of Americans to welcome conservative solutions to some of our most troubling social problems. They can intimidate almost as often as they educate. Conservatives still haven't found the right vocabulary for framing the cultural debate. If this is conservatism's cultural moment, however, it is a moment fraught with uncertainty-even peril. ![]() The voters rewarded Clinton for adopting such initiatives if he values his popularity in his second term, he will be receptive to others. Most of his conservative speeches and actions-from calling for more police on the streets, to signing legislation overturning barriers to transracial adoption, to embracing the historic welfare reform of 1996-have been "me-too" endorsements of rhetoric and initiatives long championed by conservatives. But he won re-election in part because, on many issues, he ran as a cultural conservative. In his enthusiastic defense of abortion and racial quotas, the president remains on the cultural Left. Even with the re-election of President Clinton, conservatives are well positioned to define an agenda for American cultural renewal. Conservatives now have the opportunity to usher in a new era of self-government that relies on strong families, active religious faith, rejuvenated civic associations, accountable local governments, a vigorous market economy, and private charities to help those who fall between the cracks. The answer to these problems is more individual responsibility and less government bureaucracy, more social entrepreneurship and less social engineering. Even most liberals have lost faith that a large central government in Washington is the answer to the great cultural crises of our times: the epidemic of child abuse, more black men in jail or prison than in college, a public education system that fails to teach 40 percent of third-graders to read. But intellectually the era of Big Government truly is over. His 1998 budget is full of proposed new federal programs, as well as expansions of existing programs such as the National Endowment for the Arts, for which there is no legitimate federal role. President Clinton has said that "the era of Big Government is over." He doesn't mean it. Now is the time for conservative cultural ideas-marriage, religion, civil society-to repair the fabric of American life. We know from the resurgence of American capitalism that conservative ideas of tax limitation and deregulation revitalize the economy. We know from Ronald Reagan's Cold War victory that conservative ideas work in national defense and foreign policy. The paradox of American politics is that the country is shifting to cultural conservatism, yet the American people, and even many conservatives themselves, are deeply suspicious of the cultural message of conservative leaders.
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