Abraham Lincoln: Reclaiming the Soul of Conservatism

The conservative movement in America today stands at a crossroads. Too often, debates within our ranks devolve into petty squabbles over labels—who gets to claim the mantle of "MAGA," who represents "true" conservatism, or who holds sway in the shifting alliances of personalities and factions.

But these are distractions.

The real struggle is not a political battle for control of a brand or a movement; it is a profound moral battle for the soul of conservatism itself.

Let us remember our roots.

The Republican Party was founded in the mid-19th century as a bold human rights movement. At its core was Abraham Lincoln, a man driven by an unyielding moral conviction to end the scourge of slavery in the United States. Lincoln and the early Republicans saw slavery not as an economic or regional issue, but as a fundamental violation of human dignity.

They rejected the notion that people could be reduced to mere groups—defined by race, origin, or class—and judged worthy or unworthy based on those collective labels.

The Democrats of that era, tragically, defended slavery precisely on such collectivist grounds, viewing individuals through the lens of groups rather than as unique bearers of inalienable rights.

This was no minor policy disagreement; it was a moral revolution. Republicans seized the moral high ground, declaring that every person, regardless of background, possesses inherent worth and individuality. The abolition of slavery, the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments—these were triumphs of individual liberty over group-based oppression. They redefined America as a nation dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, not as members of tribes or classes, but as individuals endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

Today, we face echoes of that same moral challenge. The Democratic Party has, in many ways, reverted to a collectivist worldview.

Modern progressivism increasingly categorizes people into identity groups—based on race, gender, ethnicity, or other characteristics—and assigns rights, privileges, or grievances accordingly. This approach denies the core individuality that makes each American unique. It pits groups against one another, fostering division rather than unity under shared principles of freedom and personal responsibility.

Policies rooted in equity over equality, in reparations tied to ancestry, or in affirmative action that judges by skin color rather than character—these are manifestations of the same group-thinking that once justified slavery.

Conservatives must reclaim our historic human rights heritage. We are the heirs of Lincoln's vision: champions of the individual against the tyranny of collectivism. We believe in judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin or the group into which they were born. This is not politics; it is the moral high ground. And we cannot afford to surrender it.

Yet, alarmingly, some voices within our own movement are undermining this legacy. There are those who promote antisemitism—treating Jewish people not as individuals, but as a monolithic group to be scapegoated, stereotyped, or vilified. This is collectivism in its ugliest form, and it has no place in conservatism.

We already see enough of this toxic group-based hatred in parts of the Democratic Party, where anti-Zionism too often veers into outright antisemitism, and where radical voices tolerate or excuse bigotry under the guise of "anti-colonialism."

The Republican Party and the broader conservative movement must have zero tolerance for such poison in our ranks. We cannot allow fringe elements—whether online provocateurs, conspiracy theorists, or self-styled "America First" isolationists who traffic in ancient tropes—to drag us into the same moral quagmire.

True conservatism defends the dignity of every individual, including Jewish Americans who have contributed immeasurably to our nation's success. Antisemitism is not "edgy" commentary; it is a moral evil that erodes the soul of any movement that harbors it.

We must purge it unequivocally, just as Lincoln's Republicans rejected the moral compromises of their time.As a conservative running for office in Oregon, I am committed to this vision. We need leaders who will fight for policies that uplift individuals—school choice to empower parents, economic freedom to reward hard work, secure borders to protect sovereignty, and a foreign policy that advances American interests without apology.

But above all, we need to win the moral argument: that conservatism stands for human dignity, individual liberty, and equality under the law.The battle for America's future is not about who "owns" MAGA or any faction. It is about reclaiming the soul of conservatism as a force for good—a movement that, like Lincoln's Republicans, takes the moral high ground and leads the nation toward greater freedom for all individuals.

Let us rise to that challenge, united in principle, intolerant only of intolerance itself.