More leaders sign the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles
The Statement attracts support from a broad spectrum of libertarians and conservatives.
Since the release of the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles on Thursday, we’ve added dozens of additional signatories. At last count, we’re at 122—including a wide variety of scholars, activists, philanthropists, journalists, and political commentators whose names you’ll instantly recognize if you follow this world.
Several writers from across the freecon spectrum wrote about the Statement. We highlight three of them in this newsletter: libertarian Ilya Somin, social conservative Jay Richards, and Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis.
In a Twitter thread, signatory Jay Richards explained his decision to sign the Statement while continuing to engage a broad spectrum of conservatives. “The statement doesn’t address the entire conservative ‘core’ but leaves room for it,” Jay said. “As a result of this limitation, many people could sign it who disagree on other issues…I have long argued that a robust conservatism should include both social and economic conservatism grounded in natural law.”
Over at Reason’s Volokh Conspiracy blog, libertarian legal commentator Ilya Somin called the Statement “a much-needed breath of fresh air…I’m also a longtime admirer of the writings of many of the signers.” Because the Statement is not a purist libertarian manifesto, Ilya said he still had “caveats and reservations,” but that “there is much to praise in the Freecon statement.”
And in his Daily Beast column, Matt Lewis, writer for The Daily Beast, described his rationale for signing the statement, expressing the hope that freecons could reinvigorate the conservative movement. “We are neither right-wing nationalists or left-wing progressives. We are conservatives, at least in the sense that this term was understood in 2016,” Matt wrote. “We now know who we can trust and who’s a true believer.”
New signatories
Are you involved in the liberty movement, and would like to sign onto the Statement of Principles? Fill out this brief form and we will review it. (If you’ve already filled out the form, thank you so much—we are actively reviewing the submissions that have come in.)
The full list of signatories can be found at the Statement of Principles page. Among those who have signed on to the Statement more recently: Quinn Hillyer of The Washington Examiner, James R. Copland of the Manhattan Institute, David Harsanyi of The Federalist and National Review, Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute, Wall Street Journal columnist Karl Rove, Carrie Conko of State Policy Network, Brent Orrell and Dalibor Rohac of the American Enterprise Institute, former Heritage Foundation executive vice president Kim Holmes, Charlie Sykes of The Bulwark, Ed Tarnowski of EdChoice, Benji Backer of the American Conservation Coalition, Jack Salmon of Philanthropy Roundtable, Rick Esenberg of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Neil Chilson of the Center for Growth and Opportunity, Tim Rice of the Washington Free Beacon, Joe Walsh of White Flag with Joe Walsh, Todd Myers of Washington Policy Center, Philip Prange of the Bradley Impact Fund, Daniel Klein of George Mason University, Caleb Fuller of Grove City College, Francisco Gonzalez of the Economic Club of Miami, Heath Mayo of Principles First, Juliana Geran Pilon of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization, Alexander Salter of Texas Tech University, Charles Hilu of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Washington Free Beacon, Bill Laub of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, Kurt Couchman of Americans for Prosperity, Arturo Bauermeister of the Puerto Rico Institute for Economic Liberty, and Douglas Carswell of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Coverage elsewhere
The Center Square, a news service published by the Franklin News Foundation, covered the release of the statement. The article ran in dozens of local news outlets around the country, such as the San Francisco Examiner.
Atlanta talk-show host Alan Sanders discussed the statement on his program last week. “I think we need to remind our fellow Americans about what it really means to be an American,” Sanders said. “Maybe, just maybe, if we do that, we can start moving the ship back toward the Constitutional Republic we were meant to be.”