Election

This election appears to have turned out well for conservatives--probably as well as it possibly could.

Why do I say that? It is not because I think conservative values prevailed tonight. It is the opposite. It seems clear that leftists prevailed tonight, and "moderate" Republicans generally went down to defeat. This will make it absolutely clear who to blame if the new government fails (good chance): Leftists.

Now you may hear Rush Limbaugh talk about how this was not a "mandate" for the leftist philosophy. Don't believe it. See my entries over the past view days. The public knew they were voting for the most leftist government we have ever had, and they appear to have voted decisively for that government (albeit not a true "landslide" of Reagan/Johnson/Nixon proportions). Leftists are going to take this as a "mandate", as they should (why else run for office, which is a question a lot of so-called conservatives should have to answer). No, there is no sugar coating on this blog. Republicans lost tonight. Conservatives did not lose, because conservatives generally were not running (including McCain).

This blog has told you that no conceivable result tonight was going to be good for conservatives. Worst for conservatives, although perhaps better for the country, would have been a McCain victory and a heavily leftist Congress. That would have blurred all future "blame". Leftists now have nowhere to hide (other than the aid of the mainstream media in aiding leftist alibis, such as Republican "obstructionism"). The American people are pragmatic enough that leftists will not be able to escape the consequences of failure. Therefore, it is all on the line for them. They have control, and have to prove they should have control. I would not be a conservative if I did not think they will fail, even though I am enough of an American to hope that they do not destroy the country.

Now McCain is already putting out the "moderate" Republican line that he did better than any conservative could have done. This is probably not true. There were many winning conservative issues in this election that McCain could just not make. The Wall Street bailout alone was a (high risk) chance for McCain to stand up against socialism, and he did not.

Would Romney have won (the only Republican running as a conservative)? I don't know. I think it is possible. It depends on how well Romney exploited the winning conservative issues he failed to exploit effectively in the nomination fight. However, Romney would have at least fought the campaign on the right issues--setting up the Reublican Party for the fight over the next four years. Instead, Republicans stand for nothing, and there is little prospect they will stand for anything until another real conservative leader arises. Palin could yet be that leader, but the McCain defeat will hurt her. When you come down to it, it matters not if Romney had lost by 2 or 3 more percentage points. He could have done little worse than McCain. He might have won, and--at worst--he would have positioned the Republican Party on principle.

Will Democrats "move to the center", now that they are in control? Why should they (which is why this "no mandate" stuff means nothing)? They have won by standing for the same Big Government bribery that lefts have stood for ever since FDR. They can look at the African-American vote, combined with the Hispanic vote, and conclude that they do not need any more than the "idealistic" (brainwashed) young and limousine leftists to win elections. They are not going to believe that this is a "center-right" country, when they see a permanent coalition building. They also have the Obama example of bribing the "middle class, and simply lying to potential opposition voters to confuse things (accusing the opposition of lying, all the while you are telling the biggest whoppers).

No. Leftist Democrats in Washington are not going to move to the center. That, of course, is the best thing for conservatives, if not the best thing for the country.

What is the worst things about this election? It is definitely not the Republicans that lost. I said in this blog that I would not feel bad--feel fairly good, as a matter of fact--if every Republican in the "establishment" U.S. Senate lost. Sure, there are a few fairly good ones (most of whom survived tonight), but the Senate has been a graveyard of conservative principles. Further, unlike Democrats, Republican Senators have been pretty much unwilling to try to "make waves" against the media tide. As state, McCain losing is a very good thing for conservatives.

Nope. The worst things are clear. First, the mainstream media has prevailed in their blatant, partisan, leftist evolution into a campaign arm of the Democratic Party. Yet, that will ultimately backfire. The polls have been (sort of) "vindicated" (even though Obama did not come close to winning by 15%. That means evil things in the future, as polls continue to take over "reporting" of politics. Finally, the Fereral Judiciary may yet take Obma's guidance, and impose every leftist idea by judicial fiat (those that leftists cannot get passed into law, even with their control of Congress). Expect Obama to appoint confirmed, extreme leftists to the Federal Judiciary. This is the price conservatives have to pay for letting the Republican Party drift off course. It is a high price, but one that was necessary to prepare for a conservative comeback (necessary, once McCain was nominated).

Will Republicans revert to the idea that they can only win elections by becoming McCain type Democrats? It is possible, in which case conservatives will spend even more time in the wilderness, but unlikely. It is unlikely because leftist Democrats are going to be in control. If they succeed, Republicans are not going to win elections by offer the same, only less of it. If they fail, the Republican opposition leader that emerges will surely advocate change. You just don't win elections by failing to have a coherent message. Plus, McCain has conclusively proven that "moderate" Republicans, unless they go at least as far left as Joe Lieberman (and perhaps even then, as McCain is about that far left on everything but national security), will get trashed by the mainstream media just as much as conservatives. How can you really win elections, if the media is trasing you for your terrible supporters and "associates" (conservatives), while you are saying basically the very same things as your opponents are saying? Why would the public not vote for your opponents, as they appear to have done in this eelction?

Oh, Republicans might get a "gift" on national security (in other words, a disaster for this country, which is not a good thing). There are events which might have enabled McCain to win this election, for example. It would not have changed that Republicans now stand for nothing domestically. A party cannot get away with that. Even while losing to Ronald Reagan, Democrats did not make that mistake. Sure, they went with the tax cuts of Reagan, but they never changed their Big Government approach. And now Obama has even come upon the idea of bribing "middle class" voters on taxes, while keeping the same Big Government message.

No, I don't think the American people are yet fully sold on this radical turn to the left. It is, however, what we are going to get until Republicans come up with a true conservative leader.

That may be too late for the country।
P.S. This is being written before the election is truly final. It would be a great thing for the country if some of these projections proved wrong, and McCain pulled it out (great by discrediting polls--not because McCain would then be elected). However, enough of the actual vote is in that I don't expect that to happen. Further, it is clear that Democrats will have strong majorities in Congress. Don't be deceived about this "filibuster" breaking majority of 60 Democrats. It is unlikely that the Republicans will have enough gumption to stick together against the Democratic majority, after this kind of defeat (second successive defeat), except on isolated (probably not very important) issues--at least until things start going wrong for the Democrats. Make no mistake about it. Leftist Democrats are now firmly in control of this government, and there is going to be little chance to stop them until they start suffering some defeats (at the polls, and in the results of their policies, or apparent bad results even if external events are mainly to blmae). Oh, the "noneymoon" will soon be over, as the public starts to realize with horror what they have done. But that will not slow Democrats down until things start to really go wrong. That may happen pretty quickly, but not quickly enough to stop the new leftist government from pretty much having its way.