By John Westmoreland, Chairman of the DeKalb County Republican Party

There’s a great deal more to actually being a conservative than simply waking up one day and deciding that you’re going to start calling yourself a “conservative” as a political strategy. However, the article titled “Democrats must not let GOP define them” in the Times-Journal on Oct 16, 2013 told us just the opposite.

That article touched on several areas that Democrats would like to “re-frame” so they won’t have to admit how they are out of step with todays Alabamian.

The GOP doesn’t define the AL Democrat Party; they do that all by themselves. The GOP didn’t ask the Democrat Party to vote God out of their platform; they did that all by themselves. Neither did the GOP steer the Democrat Party into the far-left leaning, big spending big government, socially liberal and essentially socialist style party we see today. That’s just the direction they chose, all on their own. The Democrats have gave us Obamacare and the hefty price tag with it, just as a bonus, to show how much they want to control everyone’s lives and destiny. Alabamians didn’t want Obamacare, but we were all told by Democrats how much we would “learn to love it”.

Around here folks will be quick to tell you that what I’ve just told you is those old National Democrats. In fact, I’ve heard many Democrats say, “I’m not an Obama Democrat, I am an Alabama Democrat”. Really? And you think that it’s that big of a difference these days?

The Alabama Democrat Party has surrounded themselves with public figures like Louis Farrakhan, an extreme, anti-America radical and Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam who has been their guest two times in the last year. They also hosted television's so-called "comedian" Bill Maher, whose slanderous hate speech continuously displays a lack of moral character, at their dinner honoring then Chairman Mark Kennedy on March 17, 2012. The Alabama Democratic Majority, led by former Alabama Democrat Party Chairman Mark Kennedy is hosting self-avowed socialist U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont) for an event in Homewood, AL. It looks as if Democrats here in ‘Bama are clearly doing a better job defining who they really are, even better than the GOP could ever hope to do.

So, what is being a conservative? It’s not any of the things we’ve just covered.  We read in the previous TJ article that the dictionary defines conservative as “holding to traditional attitudes and values.” I would have to agree, I am a conservative: a belief in traditional American family values, a belief in traditional Christian marriage between one man and one woman, a belief that our constitutional rights are given to us by God, not government, a belief our rights extend to ALL Americans, including the right to Keep and Bear Arms, a belief that ALL Americans (not just “the little guy”) have the right to work hard and prosper, to own property and worship their God, a belief in the American tradition of LIFE.  That every life is precious and every life has purpose. And yes, that it’s important to consider where you will spend eternity because after all, it will be our final retirement destination.

Traditional family values include quality education for our children. I am proud to say that I attended a public school along with about 95%+ of our fellow DeKalb County citizens. I graduated, as did most. We were all provided with instruction and the best tools available by our school systems, as they still do now. They did and continue to do their part. It’s up to the individual to also do their part by working hard, studying hard and by playing an active and involved role in their own educational future.

It’s true that Republicans here in Alabama have controlled the state legislature for only about three years. That’s the very body that makes our laws and establishes our state’s general and educational budgets. How ironic is it that after 136 consecutive years of Democrat rule in Alabama, we found ourselves in financial and societal crisis? The people of Alabama loudly said in 2010, “enough is enough”. Democrats would have you to believe that only they are qualified to know what is really in your best interest with more government programs, higher taxes, more spending and federal mandates like Obamacare. Republicans want all the citizens to have a government that gives them a chance for a brighter future, one filled with expanded opportunity for all and full of freedom from an oppressive over reaching government that stifles our economy.

Successful people can be defined many different ways. Trying to define them simply as “the wealthy”, “rich people” or the “1%” should be considered a slap in the face of all everyday Americans. If 35% of people polled believe themselves to be, or will be, wealthy, then it’s not an irrational belief to understand that Americans desire to achieve greatness or to have the opportunity for upward financial and personal satisfaction mobility. Opportunity does not come from government, it comes from the individual who grabs the “bull by the horns” and decides to control their own destiny. I just don’t know anyone who grew up with the life goal of becoming dependent on government handouts or wanting more government control over their lives.

Much more could be said about where our National and our State’s beliefs have gone. We are all different and have our own definitions of what being a conservative means. It’s the citizens who must investigate and decide for themselves who they elect and what they think is “holding to the traditional attitudes and values” of our great society, both nationally and locally.

I do not have any great intention of bombarding the newspaper with article after article, only trying to say something that sticks. I am not a Conservative because I am a Republican, but rather a Republican in great part because I am a Conservative. To that end, we must support and vote for the party of smaller government control, the party of personal freedom and also ensure that we support and vote for the individual candidate that truly represents Traditional American Family Values, not the ones who only pretend to be conservatives.