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Civil Liberties, Limited Government, Economic Freedom.
The Four pillars of the conservative movement
We have developed these four pillars to guide the work of activists and candidates:
1) Constitutional Government
Constitutional government is limited government. It is the regulation of society with the least intrusion necessary. Movement conservatives believe small is beautiful and advocate for structural and regulatory simplicity.
The actions of Movement Conservatives:
- Must hold Government to account by examining its efficiency and the effects that its expansion has had on society, the family, and individuals. This can only be accomplished in an environment of open government and transparency.
- Must oppose expanding the scope of Government – taking on more responsibilities that erode the rights of families and individuals.
- Must work to reduce the role and size of Government. This will reduce the cost of Government, providing scope to cut taxes and the accumulation of debt.
2) Economic Freedom
Market-centered economies work better for consumers than government-centered economies do. An economy that requires a business to hire a lobbyist to get government to promote its product, and that restricts the products of its competitors, is not a free economy. Free markets provide consumers with choices and consumers should decide which choice works best for them in an environment free from Government coercion.
The actions of Movement Conservatives:
- Must work to ensure the decentralization of economic decision making so individuals, families, and communities can pursue profit and nonprofit activities according to peaceful values and preferences.
- Must examine the system of legalized bribery that allows some entities to corrupt the marketplace by employing Government to mandate their products and services – and raise barriers to or destroy those of their competitors.
- Must oppose corporate-government partnerships that seek to impose neo-Marxist ideology on society, the family, and individuals.
3) Individual Liberty
Our Declaration of Independence states clearly that our RIGHTS as human beings come from God and are not a privilege bestowed on us by Government. The Bill of Rights codifies our RIGHTS, and it is the duty of conservatives to protect and defend the Bill of Rights.
The actions of Movement Conservatives:
- Must identify and oppose ideologies and policies that seek to challenge and take away our RIGHTS.
- Must oppose and defeat attempts by government and corporations to force or coerce individuals into waiving their RIGHTS.
4) Traditional Values
Representative democracy is a Western cultural idea. The American Republic was created from this and other foundational Western values. As the name suggests, it is the duty of conservatives to conserve the foundational principles handed down to us by our forebears. This is not a bar to those arriving from other cultures to join our community of the mind – of the idea. American conservatism is not one of place or birth but one of agreement based on core values embraced.
The actions of Movement Conservatives:
- Must defend traditional Western values and oppose the nihilistic threat of culturally ascendant neo-Marxism.
- Must identify and defeat those politicians and political organizations that espouse or embrace neo-Marxist policies.
- Must develop policies and promote candidates to turn the tide against neo-Marxism and re-establish traditional Western values as the culturally ascendant force in American life.
Our Editor, Bill Winkler
Rob Eichmann edited us until 2013. Then various people. Bill Winkler took over in 2026.
In 1978, Bill Winkler managed a campaign that defeated a 16-year Democrat incumbent in a Pennsylvania State House race. He went to work for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives fashioning a proactive constituent service program that was used in marginal districts throughout the Commonwealth. During the next few cycles, he managed and won six inner-city legislative races, flipping seats having Democrat registrations of more than 70%, maintaining the majority for Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
In 1985, he worked in two Virginia House of Delegates races before being accepted into the NRCC’s Campaign Academy – called the “West Point of American Politics” by Newsweek. Experienced operatives were hired to attend a six-week intensive training program, which included preparing a daily campaign plan that was critiqued by the top GOP consultants in the country. Before being sent to run Congressional races, he worked for the RNC’s Project 1991 – the redistricting project that helped to gain New Jersey the best map in modern memory.
Winkler successfully managed congressional campaigns in the 1986 and 1988 cycles, focusing on incumbents who had nearly been defeated and expanding their margins of victory. In 1987, he managed city council races in Philadelphia, producing a famous upset in the primary that year.
He began focusing on research (opposition and vulnerability) for the 1990 congressional races. In 1991, he provided research for the Burlington County Republican Committee for the legislative district 7. We defeated all three Democrat incumbents and flipped those seats.
In 1993, Winkler was hired by the Senate Republican Majority and the Assembly Republican Majority and became the primary opposition researcher for the GOP in New Jersey. He held that role for the 1995, 1997, and 1999 cycles – working for Senate President DiFrancesco and Speakers Haytaian and Collins. He has worked in every county in New Jersey.
Since 1991, Winkler has provided research for nearly 500 candidates. These have included candidates for Governor, U.S. Senate and Congress – as well as state and local races – and include studies for the Republican National Committee, Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Republican Governors’ Association, Republican Attorneys General Association, and over two dozen Republican State Committees.
He worked with national political consultants like Steve Sandler (Nebraska, Maryland, New Hampshire, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi, etc.) and Karl Rove (to flip the Texas Legislature and capture statewide offices in Alabama). These consultants ensured that Winkler was recognized for his work. For example, Winkler was made an Honorary Texan by Governor George W. Bush, a Kentucky Colonel, and an Honorary Aide de Camp in the Alabama State Militia.
Winkler expanded into policy research and in 1998, was a consultant to the District Attorneys’ Association and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) in organizing a successful statewide referendum that changed the Pennsylvania constitution – ending “judge shopping” by criminal defendants by giving prosecutors the power to ask for a jury trial. In 2000, he worked with these same groups to form a new organization called The Campaign for Victims of Crime, which worked with other victims’ groups nationwide to remove the corporate executive responsible for the Benetton Corporation’s use of convicted murderers in its Spring-Summer 2000 advertising campaign. In 2003, he was consultant to another group called Protect Our Children, which was formed to change the Pennsylvania Constitution to allow child victims/witnesses to testify by closed circuit television.
During the time he has been concerned with research, he has been asked to manage campaigns. Most of these have been legislative and local races, principally in New Jersey, but also in other parts of the country and abroad, in the United Kingdom. Noteworthy elections include primary upsets in two northwest New Jersey State Senate seats and a 2007 General Election campaign conducted under the state’s Clean Elections Pilot Program.
