Morton Blackwell Headlines Conservatism 101® Course

Leadership Institute President Teaches Lecture on “The Real Nature of Politics"
Washington DC, December 19, 2013 – Leadership Institute President Morton Blackwell will examine how conservative grassroots activists have been key to the electoral success of the Republican Party for the past several decades in a new online lecture released today as part of Conservatism 101®, a multi-media series about the American conservative tradition.

In his lecture, “What’s the Real Nature of Conservative Politics?” Blackwell exposes consultants, like Karl Rove, who raise large sums of money from conservative activists, only to spend that money on expensive commissionable paid-advertising campaigns, as a systemic problem for conservatives and the Republican Party.

“To the best of my knowledge, none of the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by Rove’s 2012 operations was spent on ground-game activities. As far as I have learned, whatever he spent to affect election results was spent on commissionable advertising,” said Blackwell.

Blackwell’s lecture also looks at the relationship of conservatives with the left, with the Republican Party, and with each other. Blackwell encourages conservatives and libertarians to cooperate and use the Republican Party to build a stable, governing majority.

The Conservatism 101® multi-media series was developed by the Leadership Institute and co-produced by Free Think University. The series consists of 14 different, 45-minute, free online lectures, each featuring a different conservative leader.

The lectures focus on the big questions of the conservative movement – its origins and history, its founding principles, its successes and failures, and its future. After each segment, students are provided with supplemental reading materials, and may complete an assessment through which they earn Free Think University scholarship points. These points can be applied in competitions for cash scholarships that help students pay for their higher education.

Previous Conservatism 101® lectures have featured some of the conservative movement’s most influential voices, including Stephen Moore from the Wall Street Journal, radio host Mark Levin, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, author Dr. Paul Kengor, Becky Norton-Dunlop from The Heritage Foundation, and many more. Click here to see the full lineup of speakers.

“No matter a person’s political leanings, Conservative, Liberal or otherwise, we think this collaborative project with Leadership Institute is an important contribution to a more civil dialogue about politics and the American experience,” said Free Think University co-founder Jim Van Eerden.

“All of our courses are framed by questions we receive from our students, who want to know both sides of an argument, or the case made on behalf of an under-represented point of view – since the modern American university can sometimes be hostile to the competition of ideas,” Van Eerden said.

“Leadership Institute believes in equipping the next generation of leaders with a clear understanding of the principles, composition, and activities of American conservatism,” said founder Morton Blackwell. “We are happy to be leading the way with Free Think University in bringing this world-class college course experience to thousands of students.”

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