It’s a blatant “tell”. The Big Lie, that the current anti-statist uprising is composed of extremist ideologues, is a media favorite, but they hammer it knowing full well the opposite is true. Their message is designed to frighten and discourage the average voter from joining the uprising. In reality, the movement largely comprised of “small-c conservatives”, and their large numbers and sudden vocal activism scare the bejeezus out of the Ruling Class.

By nature, small-c conservatives color within the lines. They are hard-wired to play by the rules. They show up at work on time and do an honest day’s work. They go to church. They pay their taxes. They pay their mortgages. They keep their kids in school. They save for their own retirement – they’ve always suspected that Social Security wasn’t reliable, so they’d better take care of themselves.

On the other hand, Capital-C Conservatives have always been vocal political activists. They may be Movement Conservatives, Fiscal Conservatives, Social Conservatives or NeoConservatives, but in every case there is a fairly well developed philosophy or ideology that defines and motivates them.

Small-c conservatives are conservative, first and foremost, by temperament. In the past, they were largely discomfited by the conflict of our two party system. Their main political involvement, voting, was not a revolutionary act, but a civic duty. The more radical elements might have gone so far as to put up a yard sign or donate $25 to a candidate of either party.

The philosophy of the small-c conservative is pretty simple:

• Fair is fair.
• A deal is a deal.
• I’ve worked hard, and I deserve what I’ve earned.
• America, while not perfect, is a great country.
• The American Dream worked for me and is a promise I want to keep alive for future generations.

The current regime in Washington threatens all that.

But small-c conservatives are nobody’s fools. They see that a staggering chunk of tax dollars and public debt bailed out people who gamed the system (or tried): well-connected investment bankers and recipients of NINJA loans. General Motors, onetime symbol of the best of Industrial America, was taken by force from its owners and handed to the UAW, who were largely responsible for its poor fiscal health in the first place. Small-c folks know that “pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it” is a Congressional mindset that endangers our freedom. They know instinctively that “income redistribution” ultimately can’t be about distributing from the top 1% to the other 99%; the plan is to rob producers and savers and reward everyone else until we’re all equally poor.

Adding insult to injury, small-c conservatives sense that the current regime somehow blames them for the plight of the have-nots. Being called a raaacist hateful bigot and xenophobe is pretty offensive when it’s all a lie.

The small-c conservative will be heard on November 2. This will be their election.

Because, you see, there are never enough Capital-C Conservatives to carry the tide. We’ve always needed the small-c folks to vote our way, and in normal times moderate (or moderate-sounding) Democrats know how to say enough of the right things to get some of the small-c vote.

But these are not normal times. Real extremists have taken over the Democratic Party and radicalized it. Moderate and conservative Democrats (if there ever was such a thing) have been neutered.

The Tea Party is just the tip of the iceberg. The Left and the Ruling Class have taken the small-c conservative for granted for so long that the sign-waving and vocal activism of the Tea Partiers seems somehow out-of-bounds to them.

We’ve heard a lot of jabbering about an “enthusiasm gap”. Hogwash. Conservatives have a sense of urgency, not enthusiasm. They feel that if they miss this opportunity to confront the threat, they may never get another one.