Conservatism Did Not Lose
I just want to reiterate for anyone out there who didn't get it... Conservatism didn't lose. Not in the least bit. The Republicans lost, but not conservatives. Why? Well, Republicans aren't conservative right now! Sarah Palin was the one good thing about Republicans this cycle, but she alone wasn't enough to shed the dead weight of "moderate" bi-partisan Republicans who enjoy reaching across the aisle and forsaking everything the party is supposed to stand for. If you take a look at all the runners and ballot initiatives... Conservatism didn't lose.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels won by a huge margin and he's the definition of conservative. The marriage bans were approved and the global warming initiatives failed, which is what conservatives have been trying to pass for years. Almost everywhere you look, if there was a clean cut choice between liberal and conservative, conservative won with flying colors... The Republicans lost the election because they weren't solid conservatives, either. With the sole exception of Sarah Palin. The media goes overboard on trying to peg McCain's failure on her presence, but that's a flat out lie... Period. McCain was a nobody to Democrats AND Republicans until suddenly: BAM! Sarah Palin shows up. That made the media crazy upset and it revitalized the Republicans behind her. Not behind McCain... Behind HER. I've seen t-shirts and I totally agree: "I'm voting for Sarah Palin and that guy she's running with." Wherever she went, she rivaled and frequently surpassed the crowds that Obama drew, and she was only the Vice President.
No, folks... The Republicans lost and the Democrats won, but conservatism is still very much alive as we can see for ourselves in all the votes that went to true conservative candidates and initiatives. The question remains: Will the Republican party be able to fix itself by 2012? Will another party rise up instead? All the moderate Republicans who made an effort to reach across the aisle to gain more votes? The ones who said the only chance we have of winning is to become more centrist? They're all gone... All voted out in favor of Democrats. Nobody wants a wishy-washy middle man... They want one or the other. Centrism is seriously overrated. (Also, the media keeps claiming that the liberal Democrat administration is going to be centrist. Oh, please, are you kidding me? Wow... They media is going insane. More than usual. It's also amazing how much this election "wasn't about race", but now that Obama's been elected? All about race. Yeah. Good job keeping the stories straight.)