If you are conservative in America, you have grown used to the fact that the conservative commentariat is more concerned with staying in good with the Left than making the conservative case on behalf of their supporters. They are endlessly lecturing the Right about their tone and their tactics. If some “unauthorized” right-wingers, like talk show hosts or bloggers, comes up with some way to tweak the Left, Conservative Inc. starts lecturing everyone about the need for good behavior.

When the base complains about all this fraternizing with the enemy, guys like Jonah Goldberg claim that the job of the conservatives like himself is to sell ideas, win the argument. That means engaging the Left anywhere and everywhere using facts and reason to change minds. Further, they say that to do this they have to keep the debate civil and make sure they are on good terms with the other side. After all, we’re all on the same team. It’s just a difference of opinion.

The counter to that is that by going on these shows and engaging Lefty on his terms, they are accepting the premises of the Left. Once you accept the premise the argument is already lost. What’s left is a negotiated surrender. For example, by accepting the premise that racism is immoral, so-called conservatives end up having to sign off on every Progressive social project, for fear of being called racist. If they reject that premise, they don’t get invited to cable chat shows, so they roll over and play dead for Lefty.

Anyway, this story is getting a lot of attention on all sides. The Libertarians think it means their winning, but they have been expecting the “libertarian moment” for as long as anyone reading this has been alive. On the other hand, conservatives wonder why they are not winning anything, despite the fact the mood is swinging their way. Of course, the Left fears they are not winning enough. They have to work harder to defeat the Right. Again, the premise of the study is suspect, but it is a useful point.

Anyway, Kevin Williamson has picked up on it and written a column about the difference between winning the argument and winning elections. He also notes how support for the GOP at the national level has waned a bit as local support has grown a bit. Again, he assumes the premise is correct. Like everyone else on the right waving around this study, he really wants it to be true. More important, they want to think they are the ones responsible for altering public opinion by making those clever arguments to Lefty.

Again, the study and the chattering about it is nonsense, but it reveals a truth about the political system in modern America. It gets back to the start of this post. The Left runs everything and the Right works mostly as a brake to slow the process here and there, but never stop anything. For that to work, the Right has to be willing to play the role in the media. That’s why they are always worried about not upsetting the Left. Their job is to police the right and make sure no one tries to challenge the system.

Now, one thing about that study which could be useful is this. The demographic changes happening in the country could be causing a change among white voters. In other words, the study is picking up a shift in white attitudes. That has nothing to do with the chattering classes, at least not directly, but it will have an impact on them at some point. If the white population is shifting politically, it means the financial system of Conservative Inc is in for a major disruption, but that’s a topic for another day.