Judge Roy Moore is rising again, but will the Republican party resurrect itself with a return to its conservative roots? Or will liberalism continue to erode our liberties?

Bobby Jindal. Sarah Palin. Michael Steele.

The Republican party is introducing new faces to the masses in hopes of revitalizing the GOP in time for the 2010 elections. But a conservative comeback may begin with some familiar faces calling for the GOP to return to its roots, if not resurrect them.

Indeed, some defeated Republican politicians are looking for their place on the government stage in 2010, armed with Regeanesque mantras of fiscal responsibility, lower taxes and national defense. Former congressman Rob Portman may run for Senate in Ohio as Rob Simmons, who lost a reelection bid in 2006, is gearing up for a Senate race in Connecticut. There’s also talk of John Sununu, who lost a Senate seat in New Hampshire’s 2008 elections, running again in 2010.

Then there’s Judge Roy Moore. Moore has thrown his righteous robe in the Alabama gubernatorial ring for 2010. Not only is Moore not a new Republican face – he’s a controversial one. A Moore victory would signal a comeback of Biblical proportions that could reinvigorate the Republican party in the South. Moore is perhaps best remembered for refusing to remove a granite monument of the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the state’s judicial building. As a gubernatorial candidate, his goal is to help lead America out of crisis and back to its Christian heritage.

“There’s a need for leadership in my state and in our nation. We need to turn back to the principles of our founding fathers, our heritage, our history. There are too many willing to stray from the Constitution of the United States and that’s a dangerous trend,” Moore said. “Alabama has always provided leadership to the nation, whether on state’s rights , civil rights or religious freedom, and Alabama can take a lead in helping address the crisis of our economy and reaffirm the 10th Amendment. Alabama can bring our nation back to the moral basis on which it was founded. That’s my message.”

Conservative Principles

Moore is running on conservative principles. He believes government should not be involved in private business. He believes lower taxes spur economic recovery. He believes borrowing money from the government comes at the cost of true liberty. He points to socialism – to control the means of production and distribution of goods – as an enemy of freedom. As he sees it, the government that governs least governs best – and Alabama can show the nation how government should work.

“We’ve been here before. When Carter turned the reigns over to Ronald Reagan we had a higher inflation rate and just about the same unemployment rate as when Bush left office,” Moore says. “The solution was what we call Reaganomics, which was smaller government, less spending, lower taxes and control of the money supply to keep inflation down. Right now, we have none of those things.”

Moore also believes our morality is under attack. President Barack Obama’s comments about the United States not being a Christian nation have unsettled Moore’s spirit. Moore, for one, would like to know what gives Obama the right to make that declaration when the Supreme Court of the United States disagrees. Beyond a lack of Christian leadership, he says much of the nation’s problem is that the lines between what’s right and wrong are blurring.

“Historically, our definition of right and wrong is from God and the holy Scriptures. When we divorce God from everything in our lives, then we have no standard of what’s wrong. Every man is right in his own eyes and prudent in his own sight,” Moore says. “Same sex marriage is not about same sex couples getting together. It’s about the destruction of the definition of the institution ordained by God. Once you destroy the standard, there is no standard. The next judge can decide a man ought to be able to marry 50 women. It’s an open-ended process.”

As Moore sees it, true change will come when Christians wake up to their responsibilities in state government. The role of the government was to secure our God-given rights – all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights and among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights come from God, therefore pro-life is not just a proper Biblical stance it’s a proper Constitutional stance. The problem in American government, he continues, is that liberals do not quit but Christians give up too easily. Moore has vowed not to give up – and not to bow down to unlawful dictates of the federal government. He has already been tried by fire and he has proven that he will stand up for God and the Constitution.

Redefining Republicanism

The Republican party was born in the early 1850s by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. At that time, the two-party system was represented by the Democrats and the Whigs. Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House. The Republicans outlawed slavery, guaranteed equal rights under the laws, and helped secure voting rights for African-Americans and women.

Republican principles include the idea that the strength of our nation lives with the individual and that each person’s dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored. Those principles also state that free enterprise and encouraging individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity. Fiscal responsibility (the notion of allowing people to keep more of the money they earn) and working to extend peace, freedom and human rights around the world are also among the GOP’s stated principles.

Many are speaking of redefining the Republican party, yet conservatism would seem to dictate merely staying true to the principles of the party known for breeding liberty on all fronts. Of course, when the subject of redefining or reinventing the Republican party arises, so does talk of Ronald Reagan. Is a return to Reaganomics the answer to what ails the conservative movement in America? Reaganomics is only part of the answer, according Dr. Charles W. Dunn of Regent University’s School of Government, and author of the new book The Enduring Reagan.

As Dunn sees it, different times demand different approaches, but there is plenty about Reagan that should endure. Being a politician of principle is one of them. Reagan knew what he stood for and stuck to those principles for decades. That caused people to trust him. Dunn reminds of the deep roots conservative tradition has in America over generations and even centuries and cries out for a candidate that will stay true to conservative principles of economic, political, religious and social nature.

“We need candidates who will tie into those enduring principles and not deviate from them – and that have that savoir-faire, that charisma to articulate them,” Dunn says. “The problem is Christians tried to marry their faith to the Republican party and feel burned because Republicans have not remained true to what they believe. They got on fire with Ronald Reagan and that fired continued with George H.W. Bush but they feel burned by George W. Bush. Christian conservatives need someone like Ronald Reagan who can inspire them.”

A Call for Unity

There are some who are suggest politicians should not introduce Christian values into debates because it alienates the general population. John Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, a public opinion researcher with offices in Washington, D.C., wrote an article in Forbes magazine saying it’s obvious that the Republican party’s tight alliance with the Christian right is not helping it. He pointed to ongoing trends and recent elections as evidence.

“Stumping for God, guns and banning gay marriage – what I like to call the God, guns and gonads platform – just won’t appeal to young people,” Zogby wrote. “However, none of this means that Republicans must turn on a dime against the beliefs of Christian conservatives and others on the right. Instead, Republican voters should allow candidates to hold some different policy positions, and it must involve cooling the rhetoric on divisive issues, including abortion, gay rights and the meaning of patriotism.”

But Chuck Warren, founder of Silver Bullet Strategies, a political strategy firm in Las Vegas, Nev., disagrees. Warren says don’t hide your principles because of a survey or the opinion of people making excuses for why the Republicans lost in 2008. Sen. John McCain didn’t lose to Obama because he was pro-life or because he was against same-sex marriage, Warren says. McCain lost because the Republican party is splintered. If conservatives would unite around bettering our country and people’s lives, he says, things would change.

“For the conservative movement to have a new sunrise; to achieve electoral success in 2010 and 2012, we have to be bold. We can’t play it safe. We have to speak the truth, identify peoples concerns and articulate why our solutions and leadership will lead to greater freedom, opportunity and prosperity,” Warren says. “My biggest fear is that people have given up on America. I for one think she is worth fighting for because without her standing as a beacon in ingenuity, hope and freedom, the world will crumble.”