I decided I would create my own award for the conservative who had the greatest impact in public policy during the past year. First of all, since I know/care virtually nothing about public policies in nations other than the USA, I eliminated anyone from outside the country. Second, since Congressional conservatives had little force in a federal government that had its two elected branches controlled by the opposition, I decided no conservatives in either the House or the Senate were worthy of this honor. So, my choices came down to governors or those not in elected office.

I then narrowed my own list (in alphabetical order) down to five nominees:

Dick Armey – He was a founding spirit of the Tea Party movement, which was able to wrest the agenda away from the White House and Capital for the middle part of the year. He has remained true to his small government roots for a long time, which may explain why he decided to leave the House in 2002, after serving as the Majority Leader for 8 years. He was an academic, and speaks/thinks like one, which does not tend to inspire much enthusiasm from the grass roots, so we do not hear him speak as much as we could.
Glenn Beck – He became a conservative celebre this year. Beck’s television program moved from CNN to Fox, where he gained a lot of notoriety for his idiosyncratic style. He provided a media base for the Tea Party movement on his show and on his radio program. He has an enthusiastic group of followers on both programs which tends to allow him to control an agenda niche, a pretty important feat in the political environment.
Bobby Jindal – I thought the list needed to have some elected officials, so I decided Jindal was as appropriate as any. As governor of Louisiana, he has kept costs down, kept taxes down, and maintained at least a modicum of state services. He has some evolutionary ideas about the state, he is bringing modern conservative thought to a state that is usually reluctant to accept anything modern. His main deficits were that he made such a bad impression in his response to the State of the Union speech and that he so shy, compared to normal politicians.
Rush Limbaugh – He deserves some kind of prize just for longevity, although his impact seems to have waned as a new breed of commentators (see Beck above) induce Rush to either appear to jump onboard someone else’s train or miss the train altogether while defending Republicans of any ideological stripe. Maybe it’s me, but he no longer seems to be the firebrand of 1994, now is more of an elder commentator.
Sarah Palin – She left the Alaska governorship around the middle of the year, published a book, inspired a passionate following, and inspired an equally fervent opposition. She articulates the voice of those out of power, who yearn for a return to a time when their lives were more under their own control. I’m not sure if there is another politician currently (perhaps Obama) who could get hundreds of people to wait to see her in the cold bleakness of winter throughout the land. She is one of the frontrunners for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, which must induce an apoplexy among those of both parties who reside within the DC environment.

And the winner: Dick Armey, for me at least. He provided an intelligent frame for a small government agenda. He rarely panders, while consistently providing a logical methodology for deriving conservative ends within an arena that was not necessarily friendly to his goals.