In the debate about why Sen. John McCain and Republicans in general lost the elections bigtime this week, some conservative bloggers have argued that the main reason was because the GOP was unable to articulate a clear conservative message. They then proceeded to explain what they believe conservatism should stand for and how it should be communicated to voters.

One such conservative is Ace of the Ace of Spaces blog, a highly popular conservative blog.

Ace started off by writing that the main difference between McCain on the one hand and George W. Bush and especially Ronald Reagan was that the former did not have a clear vision. “Everything with him is personal gut,” Ace wrote, “principle-free, just an instinct, an impulse, which often takes him in wildly contradictory places.”

Although the conservative blogger is correct in his criticism, for McCain lacked a clear vision for America, making it impossible for him to articulate a message that would stick with voters. But he then goes wrong by arguing the following: “He wants to lower taxes. Sorta. Sometimes. Maybe. In election years.”

This seems to imply that a conservative should always support tax cuts, which is a silly idea, and a disastrous one when put into practice.

Relatively low taxes are part of conservatism, but Edmund Burke himself would be the first one to tell Ace that a conservative should not support tax cuts at all times. Sometimes, cutting taxes is unwise, for it could cost the government revenues for essential programs. Sometimes, say in times of crisis, lowering taxes could be unwise, because the government will try to intervene in one way or another in the economy in order to prevent it from collapsing entirely. Supporting tax cuts at all times is ludicrous.

McCain did indeed fail to articulate a clear vision and message, but the examples given by Ace imply that he too does not quite understand what a conservative vision should be all about.

Conservative leaders should articulate a clear message, yes, but one that is rooted in tradition, pragmatism and realism above all else. McCain should explain why tax cuts are sometimes good and sometimes wrong, why government spending is important in certain areas, but counterproductive or useless in others.

Running on a ‘tax cuts are always good’ platform will result in an even bigger debt and deficit than the U.S. currently has.

Conservative politicians should stop being opportunists and start being statesmen. Responsible governance should come first and foremost. That is what American conservatism should be about, and which will bring victory to the Republican Party.