"The C Word"

Thank God for the Great One.

From his blog-The C Word:

I am digesting all the arguments about why the Republicans lost yesterday. And there are many out there — from the war, corruption, and illegal immigration to historical trends, spending, Katrina, and local issues. My view: For six years the White House has either refused to or is incapable of leading the conservative movement. It has benefited from the conservative movement. It has turned to conservatives when it needed support on certain issues (like judges) and in four elections (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006). But this time, for a variety of reasons, conservatives didn't respond as needed.

Even many among the conservative elite and pundit class, while arguing for adherence to conservative principles, condescendingly sneered at segments of the conservative base when efforts were made to pass a federal marriage amendment. I believe they called it a distraction. Yet time and again, when voters are asked to pass judgment on this issue, they vote for traditional marriage in large numbers. You cannot continue to ignore social conservatives, which make-up about one-third of the Republican base, and expect to win elections.

Luminaries at the Weekly Standard were demeaning opponents of open-borders as racist. I believe the word they used was “xenophobic.” Yet this issue cuts across numerous conservative constituencies. It involves law-and-order, national security, assimilation, and fiscal responsibility.

Today the Washington Times, in a news piece, is asserting that one of the only Republican winners in last night's election was John McCain. And it quotes a Republican operative to drive home the point. But Mike DeWine (and to a lesser extent, Lincoln Chafee), one of McCain's Gang of 14 members, went down in a decisive defeat. And McCain is more responsible than most in the Senate for slowing or derailing a variety of conservative initiatives, from tax cuts to judges. Indeed, he has embraced the radical environmental agenda, expanding judicial authority over presidential powers (including the detention and interrogation of foreign unlawful enemy combatants), and was the architect of one of the most egregious abrogation’s of free political speech in modern history. The Times apparently concludes that the lesson of this election is that Republicans are clamoring for Rockefeller-Scranton-Ford Republicanism. I think the opposite is true. We know how to win landslide elections.

The field is wide open for a principled, articulate, and charismatic conservative. The 2008 election begins today.

I hope the GOP leadership hears this and obeys.

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