Red state conservatives are often in for a shock when they encounter the wheels of their state government first hand. Red state bureaucracies seem to be just as rapacious and controlling as those in the People’s Republic of
California or the People's Republic of New York.
Yet candidates for governor or attorney general assure red state voters they are as conservative as the day is long and no California idea will ever penetrate their state, despite what happens when the bureaucrat meets the citizen.
We've noticed this disconnect, too.
That's why red state elected officials who act like red state officials are supposed to act — Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and Missouri's Eric Schmitt when he was that state's attorney general come to mind — are so newsworthy they attract attention.
Thomas Murray has studied the problem.
And he's found the cause, "Red states have built conservative brands on progressive machinery. They talk like Jefferson but regulate like Albany. They thump their chests about liberty while paying dues to organizations that smuggle equity quotas into their hiring manuals."
What are these organizations?
The organizations are blue beachheads in red States writing the rules for the bureaucracies that runthe wheels of government.
These "non-partisan" professional organizations are run by left wing staffers who write rules, regulations and ‘best practices’ for state organizations that mirror what is done in the most liberal of U.S. states.
"National associations operate outside democratic oversight while having a greater influence over shaping state policy than most legislatures. They are the Trojan horses of managerial progressivism.
"The bureaucrats Republican governors inherit have been trained in association doctrine, are credentialed by association certifications, and are acculturated in association conferences."
Translation: The professional education state employees receive at conferences, workshops, conventions, and seminars are little more than leftist indoctrination.
Ambitious bureaucrats soon learn that if they want to rise in the estimation of their peers across the country, and accrue potential job opportunities elsewhere, they must adopt the leftist orientation of the governing body of their specialty.
That's why school superintendents and major city police chiefs, among others, all spout the same buzzwords and have the same leftist outlooks.
And this is what red state voters see.
"Many of the policies their representatives are voting for and their governors are signing into law are profoundly out of step with the wishes of voters.
"Bureaucracies are bloated, universities multiply administrators faster than scholars, there are fewer teachers than administrators in schools, New York-style regulations pile up in red states like Texas, and seven of the ten most federally dependent states wear the Republican label."
And it's not just the bureaucrats who are infected.
Lazy legislators who are more interested in posturing as conservatives than doing the work are the enablers of these leftist outside organizations.
"These guilds credential personnel and tell agencies what "best practice" means. Because legislators rarely read the fine print in the legislation they pass, the blueprints crafted by these associations become the law of the land by default.
"When the public wonders why every state suddenly adopts the same jargon, the same metrics, and the same 'toolkits' on climate, equity, and inclusion, the answer is almost always because the same group of associations decided it."
Is there a solution to letting the left --- opposed to everything red state voters believe in --- run red states? Yes.
Murray has a concise five-point program. The only weakness is implementing the solution will require legislators to start doing their jobs:
First, red states must audit and restrict membership in these outside professional associations. Every state agency must disclose what memberships it has, training it attends and standards it adopts.
Second, no outside association policy or "best practices" can be implemented in any state bureaucracy without a vote of approval by the legislature.
Third, DEI training originating from outside associations must be banned altogether.
Fourth, red states must join to create and recognize their own conservative organizations to replace these leftist hotbeds.
The new, conservative professional organizations must be "provide training and credentials aligned with republican self-government" and be monitored constantly to prevent leftward drift in the future.
Finally, red state governors and legislatures must control their bureaucracies and stop letting the organizations run on autopilot.
That means more appointed positions that answer to the governor, bans on revolving employment doors, strong sunset rules, and mandating accountability from state agencies.
Red state governance that is only a thin veneer of conservative rhetoric over left wing machinery has got to end.
Conservative politicians never tire to telling us what great leaders they are.
Now it’s time to start acting like leaders and end blue infiltration into red states.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.