This is a lightly edited version of remarks delivered July 25 in Washington by Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts at the Social Conservative Policy Conference, dubbed So-Con-Con and organized by the Family Policy Alliance Foundation.
Before I begin, I want to commend the Family Policy Alliance Foundation for putting on another tremendous conference this week.
The Heritage Foundation once again was proud to be a key partner with your CEO Craig DeRoche, a longtime friend of mine, and his wonderful team. Thank you all for being here and making So-Con-Con possible.
This conference has become an invaluable resource for social conservatives to communicate, and for policymakers to be reminded of, the values that made America great … and can do so again.
The question is: How?
How do we translate So-Con values into So-Con policy?
As a social conservative, speaking to a room full of social conservatives, what I am about to suggest might sound counterintuitive. But perhaps our first step should be to stop thinking of ourselves as social conservatives at all.
From Party of Families to Party FOR Families
Inside the Beltway, and especially in the Republican establishment, the adjective “social” in front of “conservative” is a diminutive. It is meant to distinguish us from the quote-unquote “real” conservatives who call the shots on the elite Right—the corporations, Wall Street and K Street, and the national security establishment.
Here in Washington, social conservatives always have been seen only as an interest group to manage, not a core constituency to serve.
Even if this weren’t insulting, it would still be absurd. Because let’s face it: For several decades now, the Republican Party has owed its every substantive victory to one group above all others: families, and in particular, parents.
Married mothers and fathers. Parents with younger and older kids. Across every demographic group. And up and down the income scale.
The data confirms what we all know. Raising children in a culture besieged by anti-family elite institutions moves Americans to the Right.
Everyone in this room already knows that it’s parents who create our families, our communities, and our nation. What we have to remember—and remind elites—is that it’s parents who create Republican political majorities, too.
So in a sense, the “how” social conservatives face is simple. We need to turn a political party of moms, dads, and kids into a party for moms, dads, and kids.
And the way to do that is to recognize and insist that in this movement and in this moment, every issue must be understood first as a family issue—one that is centered around the dinner table, not the basement.
Failure of Hyphenated Conservatism
The essence of conservativism is the preservation of those institutions that support—as political philosopher Russell Kirk would tell us—the permanent things. Chief among them is the institution God established in the beginning, the one that reflects his own essence—the family.
To be conservative, you must be a social conservative who puts family first.
No longer should we accept the premise that we are junior partnersin someone else’s political coalition.
No longer should we submit to the false hierarchy promoted by Republican elites.
No longer should we subcontract economic policy to materialistic libertarians. Or subcontract regulatory policy to corporate lobbyists, immigration policy to globalist ideologues, fiscal policy to party insiders, or foreign policy to the military industrial complex.
No longer should social conservatives accept the occasional abortion “show vote” as a reward for being team players on a team whose coaches and captains look down on us.
Except for President Donald Trump, who promised and delivered on reversing Roe v. Wade, those coaches and captains have done nothing over the last generation to merit our deference.
And with Trump’s great selection of Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, I remain confident the next presidential administration will continue to champion socially conservative causes.
The division, dysfunction, and decline we see all around us—led at every step by the breakdown of our families—did not just happen. Some Republican leaders helped make it happen.
We are living in the nation their political myopia built.
They were the ones who subordinated blue-collar communities and social solidarity to trade with China.
They were the ones who insisted that repeated, unauthorized, and unclear military interventions would make our nation safer and stronger.
They were the ones who scolded us that illegal immigration was good and big government could somehow be compassionate.
They were the ones who said Donald Trump could never win … and would never keep his promises on life, gender ideology, and religious liberty.
I think it’s time for social conservatives to start trusting our instincts, and to stop following supposed “leaders” who spent the past three decades fighting us and failing our nation.
Stakes: The Next Fight
For too long, conservatives allowed Republican leaders to put first things second.
They focused on taxes, regulations, free trade, and far-away wars, leaving our moms, dads, kids, and culture defenseless against the elite barbarians already inside our gates.
They forgot that the purpose of government policy isn’t economic growth or security or progress. It’s human flourishing. And as you know, happiness and flourishing ultimately depend on the health and strength of our families.
The Left certainly understands this.
Leftists know that to fundamentally change America—that is, to destroy it—they first have to destroy the American family.
Have you noticed in recent years how “progressive” Democrats never talk about taxes, health care, and welfare like they used to?
What is their agenda now?
Indoctrinating children. Piercing parental authority. Slandering biblical religions. Punishing and discouraging marriage. Censoring conservative and patriotic speech. Condemning the Constitution, especially the First Amendment.
They understand the stakes. They understand the fight.
That’s why the Left—not the Right—turned families into the battlefield of American politics, starting with America’s cultural institutions: colleges, schools, churches, civic groups, and entertainment.
And it’s why social conservatives and all conservatives must join the battle on that field to defend the moms, dads, and kids now fighting for their very way of life.
Our national survival depends on America’s families. And America’s families are depending on us.
Substance: Of, by, and for the Family
This is what I mean when I say that going forward, we need to see every issue as a family issue.
It’s also why Heritage has worked so hard with our partners across the conservative movement to develop a menu of policies and train potential future personnel to help the next conservative presidential administration put families first.
This is why the anti-family Left is furious we would do such a thing. A united, pro-family, pro-American conservative agenda should scare them to death.
Think of what we could do if conservatives reformed taxes, regulations, and trade policy not merely to boost corporate profits, as good as that is, but to make it easy for young couples to get married, buy a home, and have and raise kids. Lots of kids.
What if we stripped marriage penalties from all federal programs and instead rewarded parents for staying married and having more children?
What if we thought outside the box and started treating young couples as the start-up entrepreneurs they are? What if we gave family formation the same attention and care that Washington has always given to capital formation?
What if we treated stay-at-home moms like the invaluable, full-time workers we all know they are?
Think of the revolutions in education, day care, health care, technology policy, criminal justice, infrastructure, even foreign policy … if Washington finally represented families instead of corporate interest groups.
Think of how quickly that revolution would spread if our current generation of conservative governors were given the freedom to experiment with different approaches based on the needs and values of their communities.
Family-first conservatism can offer a new perspective to every issue under the sun. And, I submit, it could finally solve problems as diverse as porn addiction, mental health, and climate change—problems that anti-family elites only exacerbated.
Conclusion: Think Bigger
The bottom line is that social conservatives need to think bigger. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as part of a movement, or partners in a coalition, but as the leaders of a nation.
The Republican establishment has failed. Elite insider-ism has failed.
The Left is filling that vacuum with anti-family, anti-American poison. And if we don’t fight back, they will win. We cannot let that happen.
The fight for our nation is ultimately a fight for our families. It’s a fight only conservatives can win, but only if we step up and lead.
And as we do so, may we be motivated by the wisdom of the apostle Paul, who in Romans exhorted believers: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”