The Collegian

Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Will Olthouse

Immediately after his inauguration, President Barack Obama converted his massive fundraising and volunteer machine into an organization poised to push his agenda using money and millions of ordinary voters.

Obama's ferociously well-organized campaign captured once-red states like Florida, Ohio, Colorado and Virginia, partly with the Internet and a gigantic e-mail list, reported the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 18. His "Organizing for America," recently converted from his campaign vehicle, "Obama for America," plans to employ hundreds of full-time professional organizers with an annual budget of $75 million.

Winning votes, and thus enacting policies, depends on two things: organization and money - precisely OFA's mission.

Place this in context: Even after its election triumphs, raising money has been difficult for the Democratic National Committee because of the country's economic woes, reported Politico on Jan. 26. It's worse for Republicans.

Basically, Obama is capitalizing on his giant success and popularity to raise money other politicians currently can't to pay for political operatives pushing his policies all across the country. Thus anyone who wants money (congressmen, for example, or political action committees) will have to adopt his agenda to get it.

Clearly, President Obama is shrewd. That's what worries me.

Obama's policies kill conservatism. He voted to raise the minimum wage more than $2, allow federal funding for embryo-destroying research, stop the federal marriage amendment, against tax cuts and against confirming Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito. He supports unions, abortion, universal health care and massive government regulation.

Conservatism as a brand or rallying cry does not matter. Conservatism as self-government according to enduring principles does. When we abandon basic, lasting ideals about the wise and good, and instead enact the latest trend in imaginary rights, our republic has become a mobocracy. If men were naturally good, that would be fine; but scant few have learnt the requisite self-discipline and humility for good behavior.

What does this mean? What history has shown it will. Take Ancient Rome: In the year 410, invaders sacked the remains of a glorious civilization ruined by mass indulgence. Obama's policies mentioned above only continue and enlarge identical mass indulgence in our own decaying republic. And OFA only hopes to accelerate this.

I hope you're worried now, too.

But we're not sacked yet. And I don't mean Republicans, or any political party - they only matter in proportion to the good they champion (and that's been very little, lately).

Here my youth hits me: I want to hope that, even in a sick world, good does trump evil, at least eventually. History teaches the fall of civilizations, but also its rise. And isn't America's the story of civilization reborn?

No one can know what will happen. But even if it's ultimately a losing fight, it's worth fighting like it's not.

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