Election Redux

Before I go into my feelings on the GOP and where we are as a party, I think it is necessary to look at the historical moment that we, as a country witnessed last night.

Politics aside (for only this brief moment) the United States of America elected the first African-American in history. Nearly 40 years ago to the day, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared that he had a dream. Part of that dream was that one day; his four little children would live in an America where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but rather by the content of their character.

It took forty years, but in reality, Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was realized last night.

Congratulations to President-Elect Obama for running an almost flawless campaign. This campaign lasted longer than any in our nation’s history. President-Elect Obama made very few mistakes. For that he should be commended and congratulated. (Of course, it helps when you have a media that holds you accountable for very little and very seldom questions you on anything, but we’ll save that gripe for another day.)

Of course for every winner, we have to have a loser. John McCain, while losing last night, is not, nor ever will be, a loser. Senator McCain has served this country like very few Americans. His concession speech last night was pure class. He too, realized the historical significance of last night’s election and his short, but humbling concession speech let Obama have the spotlight. It will be interesting to see how McCain leads in the Senate from this point forward.

From a GOP perspective, last night was a bad night, although it wasn’t as bad as some were predicting. Republicans didn’t lose as many seats in the House and it looks like we were able to prevent a filibuster proof Senate (provided that Minnesota and Alaska stay as they are, there will probably be recounts.)

Interestingly, in Tennessee, Republicans increased their majority in the State Senate and actually gained a majority in the State House. Republicans hadn’t controlled both the Tennessee House and Senate since shortly after the Civil War.. In Missouri, Republicans maintained their majority in both the State House and Senate, while at the same time, losing all statewide races with the exception of my friend, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.

It was a weird night to say the least.

Republicans now find themselves at a cross roads. Over the next few weeks and months, there will be many questions asked about the GOP. Are they too conservative? Should they be more moderate? Why is America rejecting their policies? Who is the leader of the GOP? Where did McCain go wrong? Was Palin the right choice? You get the point.

In my opinion, it isn’t that the views of our party are not accepted. The problem is that Republicans have strayed from the very principles that lead us into power. Mainly, the principle of smaller government, is what I believe has led to the downfall of our party. We came to Washington to change her, and she ended up changing us.

We don’t need to redefine conservatism. We need to return to it.

It is time for the GOP re-evaluate and re-load. It is time for the party to build itself from the bottom up. It is essential that the party, on a state-level, start recruiting candidates that are young, dynamic and can communicate the very principles that we believe. Sarah Palin was right about one thing. She said that it is time for the good ole’ boy network to be shaken up and that couldn’t be any truer than within the GOP itself.

The GOP needs to reach out to young voters, young couples and minorities. We need to work on expanding our base. We need to do a better job of integrating technology into our campaigns. We need new, young, fresh, faces that not only believe in the principles of Ronald Reagan, but that can also effectively communicate how our conservative principles will positively effect the day-to-day lives of everyday, working Americans.

That was a big problem in this election. God bless John McCain, but he couldn’t sell a parka to a naked man on the North Pole. Barack Obama, on the other hand, could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves.

I hope that the GOP, and our leaders, sees this moment as an opportunity. Sure, we took our beating last night and President-Elect Obama and the Democratic Party should be commended by taking advantage of where the GOP failed.

We lost because we failed America. Not because we are wrong, but because we forgot who WE were. If we are to return to the hilltop, we MUST return to the solid common sense conservative principles that we have stood on since Reagan. We must not forget our conservative principles, and more importantly, we must continue to stand up for what we believe, especially at this very difficult time.

This is an opportunity for the GOP, I just hope we seize that opportunity and not let it pass.