Posted on 11/05/2008 10:18:06 AM PST by Delacon
America is not as conservative as it seemed in 2004 and it isn't as liberal as it looks this morning.
What happened is that four years ago, voters put their trust in one political party to run the country and they didn't like the results, and so, over the course of two elections, they systematically threw out that political party and turned to a different one. If Democrats disappoint the public, they could be waking up on a not so distant November morning just as devastated as Republicans are today.
Those who are in the profession of writing the first rough draft of history would have us believe that a single election result can signal the end of an intellectual tradition, but actual history instructs us otherwise. This is especially true for conservatism, which rose from the staggering defeat of one its own in 1964, to a glorious triumph 16 years later.
John McCain is an honorable man who sacrificed more for this nation than most of us can imagine, but he's also eccentric and idiosyncratic. During the campaign, he railed against Wall Street greed and excessive CEO pay on the one hand and against his opponent's plans to redistribute wealth on the other; he called for a spending freeze while proposing that government spend hundreds of billions of dollars to freeze home foreclosures by partially socializing the housing market.
Of all the ways to put these election results in broader historical context, it's quite a stretch to equate the defeat of John McCain with the end of conservatism.
At the same time, it would be irresponsible and unhelpful to ignore the severe challenges conservatism faces in both the immediate and long term.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Yes! And the names of the conservatives are Chuch Baldwin and Sarah Palin!
... assuming the rules don't change before the next election.
QUIT THE PROGRESSIVE LITE PARTY, old GOP, JOIN THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY TODAY!!! Send the strongest message.
First glass of Kool-Aid alert; please pass more so WE (not me folks) don’t lose any of the GOP constituency...It really is not the republicans fault. People just don’t know how to really look at what is going on...yada yada yada.
Baloney...get rid of the RINOS and the GOP...get some real conservatives together and give people a real choice.
There is no one in the GOP who will go up against and fight for change in Washington.
Obama outflanked McCain to the right on taxes.
Of course, that’ll be the end of him talking about tax cuts. The new theme is “Sacrifice”.
I hate to be in the position of actually hoping that the country goes to hell just to get Republicans elected in the future. The fact is, I don’t hope that the country goes to hell, and I’m not wishing for it. What I’m hoping for is that Obama turns out to be just as cynical and self-serving as Clinton, and sees the writing on the wall following the inevitable foreign policy and domestic calamities his administration will have to deal with.
What might be helpful is if conservatives realize that they are simply WRONG about some things. There are many conservative Democrats who somehow manage to reconcile themselves to a strong nat’t defense without kow-towing to corporate America. I didn’t vote this time but if I had it would have been for Obama because it became clear to me several years ago that the GOP is simply ate up with stupidity which wasn’t going to be fixed. My epiphany came when Bush signed off on the #@$!! bankruptcy reform bill which put the interests of usurious credit card companies ahead of your average American.
If the GOP wants to rise, it needs to re-examine its umbilical cord to Big Business. In the meantime, I invite sensible conservatives to become Democrats. It will be easier to change the criminal party than try to fix the stupid party.
parsy, who saw the light.
I doubt it. To be a conservative requires faith, an understanding of history, self reliance and personal responsiblity, alien concepts in a pathetic world.
not can, WILL!
What was conservative about 2004?
This country also betrayed all war heroes from previous wars who have fought for freedom in this country. My father-in-law fought in Viet Nam and his heart is broken over this. Our nation has gone collectively insane!
It will be decades before there is another realignment( with possible minor exceptions). The Republican party will be a minority party, and the Democratic controlled House and Senate will guarantee it.
But I can't go along with you on becoming a 'Rat. I just can't do it. I cannot in good conscience become a member of a party that supports abortion the way Oboma does. I had the privilege of seeing my son born at 7 month's gestation and there is no way anyone can convince me that he wasn't a person, fully deserving of the protection afforded by basic human rights. If that makes me a "single-issue" voter, well, then, all I can say is, life is the single issue of most importance.
Can rise again? It always rises again, stronger.
It is still the long term trend. We just have to let the liberals blow off a little steam here and trip over themselves.
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