Alarm bells are ringing in the America First conservative movement after Kris Kobach’s loss in the Kansas Senate primary and Jeff Sessions’ loss in the Alabama Senate primary. The lack of young political talent could spell doom for the movement to restore faith, freedom, truth, beauty, justice, order, and prosperity to America. America First conservatives must cultivate a new generation of leaders to face the mounting threats and challenges facing America, and they need to do it quickly.

Kobach lost to pro-amnesty Republican Roger Marshall by fourteen points and about 50,000 votes. Two years ago, Kobach ran for governor, challenging an incumbent to do it. He won the primary, but much of the party failed to back him, and Kobach himself ran an imperfect campaign. He lost by five percentage points.

What to take away from this? Certainly not that America First conservatism is dead, and Bush-Romneyism is triumphant. Nor is Kobach himself finished: He’s still a very smart and bold man who understands America’s critical problems better than anyone. Kobach’s losses may simply indicate he is not cut out to be a retail politician. We trust that the Harvard-educated Kobach will find another important role to play in the battle for America’s future.

But right now, the biggest crisis of the America First right is cultivating new blood.

Take, for instance, the case of Joe Arpaio. Sheriff Joe spent twenty-four years as sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona before losing in 2016. Conservatives have plenty of reasons to appreciate Arpaio’s decades of service. But every election cycle, as Arpaio’s behavior alienated more people, his margins of victory declined.

Rather than pass the baton to a younger successor who could carry his torch, Arpaio kept running, even after it became obvious he would face criminal charges. Finally, in 2016, he lost, and shortly after was convicted of contempt of court.

The right move would have been for Arpaio to identify political successors a long time ago, and allow them to rise. Instead, Arpaio refused to exit the scene. He was pardoned by President Trump, and in 2018, at 86 years old, mounted a bid for Arizona’s Senate seat. Sheriff Joe split the conservative populist vote between himself and Kelli Ward, ensuring an easy win for Martha McSally. Senator McSally, an inept campaigner, will probably lose to the Democrat, Mark Kelly, in November.

This year, at 88 years old, Arpaio ran for Maricopa sheriff, again. Votes are still being counted for the primary, with Arpaio in a dead heat with his former deputy Jerry Sheridan.

What is happening here? Simple: It’s a form of political narcissism. It is the apex of arrogance for Arpaio to think he can effectively serve as sheriff at 88 years old, and the peak of sycophancy to enable his attempt to do so. Arpaio should have been cultivating a successor long ago. If he had, Republicans might still hold the Maricopa County sheriff’s seat today. Instead, they’ve lost it, perhaps permanently.

The same trend unfolded in Alabama. Although we greatly respect and honor Jeff Sessions, it is undeniable that his political capital took a massive hit after he failed to protect the president in the Russiagate episode. Due to his personal vendetta against Sessions, Trump endorsed Sessions’ opponent Tommy Tuberville.

If Tuberville wins, he will be another useless member of the GOP establishment, rather than an America First conservative. If Sessions had cultivated and supported a fresh and untainted successor to take his place, then that successor might have won in the 2017 special election, and we would have another America First conservative in the Senate right now. Instead, Roy Moore, another past-his-prime political narcissist, lost to the Democrat, Doug Jones.

Perennially returning old dogs and damaged candidates to the fray is not the way forward for a vibrant and successful political movement. America First leaders must selflessly identify and cultivate talented and charismatic successors. Instead, the movement is functioning as a set of interlocking personality cults. When figures like Arpaio, Kobach, Sessions, and Donald Trump exit the stage, there is no one to carry the torch forward in their stead.

Unfortunately, this trend transcends politics. Just think about the endless parade of Baby Boomer business executives clinging to authority long after their faculties have started to fade. Or, think of college professors coasting on tenure into their eighties, rather than retiring so the glut of young PhDs can get jobs (37 percent of college faculty are over 55). Consider the steadily growing wealth chasm between older Americans and young adults hoping to start families. Even during the current coronavirus pandemic, we have imposed a devastating lockdown that has destroyed the wealth, economy, and mental health of the young in order to add a few months to the lives of the oldest and sickest in America.

Older generations are hoarding wealth, power, and opportunity. America’s social cohesion is totally frayed. Instead of giving a leg up to the next generation, the older generations prolong their stay at the top as long as they can. And right now, the America First right is as guilty as anyone.

Typically, when we see mentorship at all, it’s a kind that simply flatters the person providing it. An older man mentoring an attractive younger woman. A homosexual grooming a younger homosexual. Or an older man mentoring a younger non-white conservative not because they are particularly talented, but because it makes them feel self-righteous and enlightened.

Mentoring people based on self-serving principles simply furthers the narcissism of older generations. It allows them to point to a dearth of worthy successors to justify their grasp on power, opportunities, and resources. Meanwhile, there is a crippling lack of the most important kind of mentorship: The cultivation of the genuine, the young, the bold, the talented, and the charismatic to serve as the leadership of the future.

It’s time for the old guard of America First conservatives to ask not what they can do for themselves, but what they can do for the future of our great and imperiled nation.

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