[goldstategop]

The war was more of a deal breaker than the issue. Simply put, Administration's failure to deliver victory, the excessive spending and the lack of movement on entitlement reforms and to preserve marriage broke the bond of trust between the President and the American people. When that was lost, the Administration never recovered. As Star Parker observes, we're living in a dangerous time and the Democrats, being who they are, will not defend the country or maintain its greatness. Now the task of conservatives is to find new leaders to rebuild the lost trust with the American people on behalf of the Republican Party. Its a considerable challenge and the job needs to begin yesterday. A lot is at stake.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Tax-chick]

We need a more deregulated health care market, private health and retirement accounts and an approach to education that allows parents to choose how they wish to educate their children.

However, leading a whole nation to abandon the old and familiar and to step into the unknown and the new is no small task. It cannot be done without leaders who have vision, who have courage, and who, like Reagan, see the truth clearly enough and believe in it deeply enough that they will capture the trust of our people.

Exactly dead-on. If Republicans can't get away from, "Trust us - we're the government," then they're toast. The Democrats are bigger nannies and better liars.

[MountainPete]

One of the basic tenants of Christianity is that man is incapable of saving himself.

Boy, howdy, the democrats are an exquisitely clear example of that premise!

It seems the Republicans have by and large been seduced by the concept of government as The Answer (and a permanent place at the public trough) and haven't the cods to recognize a serious enemy even if they fly airplanes into buildings.

Well, whoever that "leader" might be, he'll have to be a warrior, or, as my mother-in-law would've said, "Stick a fork in it, we're done."

[trek]

Wow, of all the punditry I have inflicted upon myself since the election, the article you found is the first piece that really resonates.

Thanks for finding and posting it.

[BurtSB]

the wh and repub allowed the dems and the dem media to peddle the same lies over and over and over again and did not challenge them . lynne cheney was the first wh person to go after them. the dems use the old nazi , tell lies long enough and people will believe them. the wh, frist, and hastert did not set up a war room to counter attack . they should have demanded equal time or no wh access and no congress press passes . the wh and repub gave them access and allowed them to destroy there credibility with out a fight. its was unreal and stupid .the repub party has to treat the media like an enemy and take them head on.

[daniel boob]

I have earned some political capital and intend to use it."
- GW Bush after 2004 win

Here lies the problem. We went to the mat for Bush and wanted to see an aggressive stance on immigration, WOT, social issues, Social Security, etc. and we saw nothing.

We have squandered an amazing opportunity to continue to push the Reagan revolution towards political domination.

And now Pelosi is energized.

[Kimberly GG]

IMO, Republicans, historically strong on defense, must unite immediately to stop the bipartisan Open Borders Lobby so that we can EFFECTIVELY secure our borders from terrorists, or else we will lose the WOT in our own backyards. Everything else, though important issues, is a mute point otherwise. Had Bush taken this position, rather than risking it ALL for the OBL, Republicans would have rallied and we'd have had a much different election outcome. Now he is going to use Pelosi and Calderone, in the spirit of post election bipartisan compromise, to further the OBL agenda which, as a party, we must unite to stop in spite of him.

[radar101]

Star Parker is the founder and president of CURE, the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education, a 501c3 non-profit think tank that provides a national voice of reason on issues of race and poverty in the media, inner city neighborhoods, and public policy.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

As a social policy consultant, Star Parker gives regular testimony before the United States Congress, and is a national expert on major television and radio shows across the country.

Currently, Star is a regular commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. She has debated Jesse Jackson on BET; fought for school choice on Larry King Live; and defended welfare reform on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Star Parker’s personal transformation from welfare fraud to conservative crusader has been chronicled by ABC’s 20/20; Rush Limbaugh; Readers Digest; Dr. James Dobson; The 700 Club; Dr. George Grant; the Washington Times; Christianity Today; Charisma, and World Magazine. Articles and quotes by Star have appeared in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Star has written three books, “Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats” (1996), “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” (2003), and “White Ghetto” (2006), resides in Southern California.

Today, in addition to heading CURE, Star is a syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard News Service, offering weekly op-eds to more than 400 newspapers worldwide.

She left out Bush's NON-ENFORCEMENT of beneficiaries: Illegal Immgration, Clinton sacking the White House, Sandy Berger, playing along with the 9-11 commission,The Wall, brought to you by the Clintons which facilitated 911, cozying up to CAIR (Guided tours of Airport Security), and the list goes on.

[Stallone]

Republican turnout was ultimately the deciding factor in the election. It was the lowest since 1990, and lower than the Democrats.

Therefore, anyone concluding the Republicans lost because they didn't move to the center is dead wrong.

Republicans lost because they didn't govern like Conservatives.

[backhoe]

Thanks for posting this. It makes more sense to me than most of the screeds I have read so far.

[verity]

"Now the task of conservatives is to find new leaders to rebuild the lost trust with the American people on behalf of the Republican Party."

The new leaders may have nothing left to rebuild.

[bilhosty]

it is called stagnation. don't deal with problems do business as usual and don't really have anything you stand for other than letting in ilegal immigrants and spending money you are probably gone.

[Phlap]

Why did they lose? Not enough votes.

[darth]

We lost Congress for a VARIETY OF REASONS, not just because W was not conservative enough. The dims used a complex mix of tactics including deploying the MSM to make it look as if we were losing the war, selecting very attractive candidates who are much more conservative than the rest of the dim party, running to the right of Republicans on many issues, and of course, their old favorite, vote fraud. Yes, we need to attack the next election as Reagan conservatives, but our strategy to re-take Congress needs to be as complex as what the dims used. We need the big tent; even guys like the Governator can help. We also need to win back the Latino vote. Hell, W got over 65% of the Hispanic vote in Texas. The dims took back some of the Catholic vote that W had won by running guys like Casey. The Republicans need to peel off conservative Jews by supporting Israel and split the monolithic black vote by running on issues like school choice. Oh, and if we could put a dent in vote fraud, we would pick up 5% or so in many precincts.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

There was always more at stake here than met the Eye.

Just ask the once Free South Vietnamese, whose Freedom we ABANDONED long ago, ...bringing for all to sadly see in the End:


Pictures of a vietnamese Re-Education Camp

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts


Now it's...

...Quo Vadis, Iraq?

...Quo Vadis, Afghanistan?

...Quo Vadis, The United States of America?

(Quo Vadis = "We go you" in Latin)

.

[CyberAnt]

I like this reason better why we didn't win:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HughHewitt/2006/11/08/the_road_not_taken__forfeiting_a_majority