Hope And Change On The Right

Yup, Obama won, on a platform of unity. And yup, his supporters are jumping around, graciously taunting conservatives instead of burning their houses down like they deserve. This is going to be a really interesting four years.

And a really great four years, honestly. There's hardly anything more frustrating than watching a political party once full of bright-eyed idealists with the will and the mandate for a common-sense, limited-government agenda descend into a club of the arrogantly powerful concerned only with how to gain and retain power. Conservatives need to take note: exit polls showed Republicans massively disfavored against Democrats, and conservatism widely favored over liberalism. Democrats won a great number of new seats and reclaimed the White House, but their presidential candidate ran on tax cuts, family values, and a mildly restrained hawkishness. Conservative ballot proposals, including three to ban gay marriage (including in California!), won victories at the polls. This is the same center-right nation it was four and eight years ago.

And now that the House and Senate caucuses are smaller and more conservative, we have an opportunity. We may not like Obama, but we can't get bogged down in a conservative version of Bush Derangement Syndrome. We may not think he's serious about unity and working together with conservatives--but we need to realize that Americans don't want government to be a sport. Remember that, when you next feel the sting of a leftist's taunt about this election...he lost or gained just as much as you did. It's time for conservatives to remember that this isn't a popularity contest--it's about the general welfare of Americans, and we believe that a pragmatic and principled conservatism represents that. We need to get off each other's case, get off Democrats' case, and make one to the American people.

So, where do we go from here? We calm down. We fight primary battles, we recruit good House and Senate candidates. We get involved. We develop policy ideas that promote families and communities, promote the economy, and promote our strategic position in the world. We work with the opposition on issues where we find agreement, and fight them where our principles demand that we stand firm. We apply the timeless values conservatism represents to the issues facing our nation today. We present them to America, and convince her that we're the best shot in 2010 and 2012. In other words, nothing we shouldn't have been doing already.

For the Right, it's time for some hope. And from the last few years, that would be a big change.