Hope Springs Eternal: when you're dead, it's easier to see your roots

McCain was soundly trounced by Barack Obama last night. In a moment of vulnerability, I called every single battleground incorrectly. I didn't figure McCain would win Pennsylvania, but I couldn't imagine him losing Virginia, I thought he'd squeak out Ohio, and I thought Florida would stay red as well.

I was wrong.

So this morning I'm disappointed. I think we're in for a long, hard road, but Barack Obama is my president, and I will do everything in my power to help America be a great place under his leadership.

I take a few things away from last night, however that can be really great down the road..

1. Barack Obama ran as a centrist - He didn't run largely on the radical left platform of Nose-Job Pelosi and Scary Reid. He won by supporting the second amendment and tax cuts. Those are the things Americans said they care about. As voters we need to carefully watch how he responds, especially in the first 100 days. He is still our President, accountable to the voters. The HOPE: if he has integrity, this will be at worst a Clintonesque administration. More liberal than I like, but not as liberal as it could be.


2. Republicans have been in the Wilderness - The link is to a great article at the Washington Post. Closely related to Obama's centrist campaign is the reality that this election was, as Obama has regularly stated, a final verdict on the Bush years. The HOPE: Bush was barely a republican president. Under him, Government swelled, spending skyrocketed, and the basic tenets of historical conservatism were blatantly and boldly violated. I still don't believe America has rejected true conservatism. I don't believe they've seen it since 1990 or so.


3. We can begin building again - My interpretation of last night is that the clearest mandate of all was for Republicans. It's time to go back and dance again with the one who brung us! It's time for a new leadership in the conservative movement, a new vision of the Republican party. The HOPE: there should be little questioning or bickering about what we should do with the old way. Last night was the death knell for Bush conservatism. Let's tip our hats and move forward.

We're in for a long ride, and I am going to pray for President Obama as often as I can. I'm challenged and I issue a few challenges:

• Get Informed - Information is out there. Stay informed, know who your congressmen and senators are. Know what they stand for. Think through the implications.
• Engage in the conversation - Conservative politics can't be mere idealogues, hashing out nuances of an overblown fiscal policy blah blah blah. It has to be about real solutions to the real problems real people are facing. Find out what they are. Offer them a solution.
• Be Gracious - Be above the fray. I don't like what happened in America yesterday. But I understand it. I have to play my part in building bridges. I can not compromise, and I can not stand alone.

So let our response to this election be the full support of our country. America has spoken, loud and clear. If we don't like what they said, our choices are to rage and rail and further demonstrate how out of touch and fragile we are. Or, we can accept what has come our way, bear up under the burden with grace, and win again the battles over values and ideas.

We can do it. It starts today. Let's go.