When the Other Side Sounds Familiar: Seeing Opportunity in Conservative Values
- On Key Strategies
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
Mondays are for looking ahead, and lately I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to miss the opportunities that sit right in front of us.
When Senator Josh Hawley wrote last week in The New York Times that “no American should go to bed hungry,” it caught my attention. Not because it was provocative, but because it sounded familiar.
For nearly a month, the federal government has been shut down and millions of families are on the brink of losing access to food assistance. Hawley’s essay urging Congress to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program open was not a partisan argument. It was a moral appeal grounded in compassion, generosity, and responsibility. In reminding us that the measure of a nation lies in how it treats those in need, he sounded less like a politician and more like a neighbor.
This is not the first time he has written in this way. In April, Hawley published an opinion piece in The Washington Post calling on Republicans to “cut taxes for working families, not just corporations.” He proposed a refundable $5,000 child tax credit that could be applied against payroll taxes, describing it as pro-work, pro-family, and consistent with conservative values. I wrote about that piece earlier this year when Governor Mike DeWine advanced a similar proposal in Ohio.
Both leaders framed their ideas around strengthening families, rewarding work, and helping parents do the most important job there is: raising their children.
That framing matters. It departs from the stereotypes that often define conservative politics but remains rooted in the same moral vocabulary that has guided many Republican leaders for decades: family, faith, work, and responsibility. These are not new ideas. Leaders like Mike DeWine have long understood that the well-being of children and families is central to a strong economy and a healthy society. What feels new is that more advocates may finally be noticing the opportunity to meet policymakers where they are—to engage a set of values that have always been there, even if they are expressed differently.
When I began writing my From the Other Side of the Table series, my goal was to help advocates better understand how to connect with conservative policymakers. Having served at the federal, state, and local levels, I have seen how good ideas often fail because they are presented in the wrong language. Too many advocates walk into a legislator’s office talking about systems and reform when policymakers want to talk about people—how families are doing, how communities are functioning, and how work gets supported. The substance may be sound, but the story around it determines whether it resonates.
That is why Hawley’s recent writing feels so important. It reflects a moral logic that is consistent across generations of conservative leadership.
Policies that support families and work are not about expanding government. They are about moral responsibility—helping people succeed on their own terms and within their own communities.
It is the same tone Governor DeWine uses when he talks about his Bold Beginnings agenda. Compassion and accountability can exist together, and the goal is not dependency but dignity.
For advocates and organizations working in this space, there is a lesson here. If you want to make progress on behalf of children and families, you have to understand the values that drive the people sitting across the table from you. Lead with values, not programs. Explain why your issue matters before describing how it works. Frame support as enabling, not entitling. Keep examples close to home and results-oriented. Policymakers respond to practical solutions that strengthen families and communities.
Too often, advocates assume that conservative policymakers are disinterested in social policy or unwilling to invest in families. But the reality is that many simply view the same goals through a different lens. Where some see systemic inequity, others see moral duty. Where some emphasize government intervention, others emphasize community and family strength. The opportunity lies in recognizing that both perspectives can lead to shared purpose.
That is what it means to work from the other side of the table. It is not about changing someone’s ideology. It is about finding common ground in the values that underpin good policy. It means listening for what motivates rather than reacting to what divides. It means starting with the conviction that the person across from you wants to make life better for the people they represent, even if their pathway for getting there looks different from yours.
The “other side of the table” is not the enemy’s side. It is the policymaker’s side. And if you want to make lasting change, that is where you have to sit. When leaders like Mike DeWine and Josh Hawley make moral arguments for supporting families, they are not changing what they believe. They are giving advocates a chance to listen more carefully, to see alignment where we once assumed opposition, and to recognize that shared purpose still exists in American politics.
As a new week begins, that feels like a good reminder for all of us who care about families and the future.
The challenge is not getting a seat at the table. It is realizing that we are all already sitting at the same one.