Congressman Steve Pearce’s Important Advice for Young Conservatives

Congressman Steve Pearce’s Important Advice for Young Conservatives

By Viraktep Ath

Earlier this month, Congressman Steve Pearce of New Mexico’s 2nd District spoke to a packed room of high school students attending Young America’s Foundation National High School Leadership Conference.

Before his address to the conference Congressman Pearce sat down with The New Guard to discuss the importance of young people in the Conservative Movement. Congressman Pearce, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, hails from a fairly liberal district. With a constituency that consists of 52 percent Hispanics and a 60 percent overall minority population, Congressman Pearce’s ability to hold the district is impressive. He attributes his success to “knowing the issues thoroughly and not talking from talking points,” but speaking on a more personal level. Congressman Pearce told me he believes, “Most people in this nation are center right, not center left,” and that conservative values are American values. His sense of optimism for the future is furthered strengthened by his belief that young people will come to embrace these values. Congressman Pearce expressed his belief that the problems facing this nation will be “solved by the millennial generation.” His advice for young people who find themselves confronted by advocates of liberal ideas it to avoid “speaking in bullet points.” The Congressman emphasized the importance of conservatives “[having] the truth inside [them],” in order to articulate arguments clearly and precisely. He told me the odds are already stacked against conservatives, especially when it comes to the clear bias found in information disseminated online. A sound knowledge of the truth is the best approach to convincing more young people that liberal ideologies just don’t work, he explained. “Our job as conservatives is to show that our best days are ahead of us, not behind us,” Congressman Pearce remarked. “We have to rely on conservative ideas that work. The Left’s solutions have never worked.” Only at YAF conferences do students get the opportunity to engage face-to-face with leading policymakers like Congressman Pearce.