The Elephant in the room: Columnist reflects on the stigma against conservatives, at school and otherwise

What outfit would you expect to gather catcalls in the hallways of our beloved school? Maybe a skimpy ensemble is too suggestive for our halls. Or perhaps an orange and black outfit that doesn’t quite say Halloween. Well, from my experience both are plausible but not nearly as effective at gaining attention as one of my most treasured shirts: my “Meg for California 2010” green tee.

Yes, that’s right, I am conservative, a Republican, a lone elephant. My stance has certainly been recognized on campus. This “disease,” one might say, was one I developed on my own, not something I was conditioned to believe.

In fact, I was almost indifferent to political party affiliation until the summer after my sophomore year, when I interned for then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

It was then I saw the real practicality in the way of the “right” (I mean, there is a reason its not called the “wrong.”) Of course, many Democrats despise the seemingly ice-cold hearts of we elephant riders, but they are misguided. Republicans are not devoid of emotion, we simply believe that the welfare state that liberals cherish is destroying the American ideals of hard work and personal responsibility.

I’m also not just fiscally conservative. I am one who believes that life starts at conception. The only position that separates me from many other conservatives is my stance on gay marriage: I do believe that marriage is a right deserved by everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.

And although conservatism might seem like a breed who must have surely already migrated away from the mostly liberal winds of Saratoga High, some of us still exist here.

It is made quite clear that a conservative attitude is an unwelcome one. From Homecoming jokes about the Tea Party to ongoing Rick Perry or Michelle Bachmann jokes in the classroom, being not-conservative (not even liberal, mind you) is the new fashion.

In my experience, students at Saratoga freely criticize Republican policy in a desperate effort to adopt hip liberal attitudes. It seems as if some students choose to be pro-choice and for employment benefits not because they necessarily believe in them, but because it is as far from conservative as they can get.

So I ask the student body, are you liberal for the sake of being not-conservative? Is your position taken up for the fun it brings?

When asked why I choose to mingle with the “disgusting” beliefs of the right, I often just sigh and rebuff with a quote that effectively ends the conversation (if not from the snores it induces from the message it evokes.)

“A 20-year-old conservative is heartless, but a 40-year-old liberal is brainless.” Next time you decide your values, think about which you’d like to be, and whether or not you truly support the causes you appear to be in favor of.