Thoughts on the Aftermath

Last night I went to sleep with the ill feeling of knowing that the most liberal and under-qualified person to run for the office of the President, was elected by the people of this great country to be our next President. I take some solace in knowing that the damage was mitigated in the House and likely the Senate too. I am still hopeful that we can limit some of the most extreme elements of the Obama agenda with Senatorial filibusters. I am also hopeful that only the most liberal of Supreme Court Justices will retire before the Republicans can retake the Senate and White House.

That being said, I am already hearing sniping and back-stabbing of Gov. Sarah Palin by some of the McCain campaign. This is just disgusting. Senator McCain lost this election (or you could say Obama won it). To blame Gov. Palin as a “drag” on the ticket is appalling. Those staffers should be ashamed of themselves and the job they did during this campaign. This is a time for introspection, not external blame games. Republicans voted for McCain in the primary. That is the first place the Party needs to look. Each Republican that pulled the lever for McCain this past winter and spring needs to ask themselves if they voted for the best person to represent the Party.

On the national level as a whole, the Republicans did not learn any discernable lessons from 2006 and paid the price for those same issues again. The Republican Party needs new, younger, more conservative leadership. It needs leaders with new ideas and a new image. The Republican Party needs to focus on the things that all Americans agree on. Newt Gingrich, and his American Solutions PAC, has put together an agenda that is pro-American and, for lack of a better word, populist. Americans are tired of the bitter political rancor and want solutions to real problems. America is a center-right nation, and the Republican Party is going to make the most sense to most Americans in the end. If we can get our bearings straight, look past the old tired lines of “smaller government” and “lower taxes”, and actually present ideas that display those beliefs rather than just spouting them as talking points, I wholeheartedly believe that we can retake the White House in 2012.

Over the next several months I will dedicate this blog to advocating ideas based upon my core center-right (conservapendent) beliefs. It is my hope that these core beliefs and ideas will be shared by the Republican leadership in Washington D.C.

The value of children

Today the McCain/Palin campaign released a statement to the press about Gov. Palin's 17 year old daughter being pregnant. This release came because some nasty left-wing bloggers were starting rumors that Gov. Palin faked a pregnancy, and that her son born this last April was really the child of her 17 year old daughter. The Obama supporters have hit a new low because of their fear of a strong and intelligent Republican woman being on the ticket. The response by the Palin family was nothing short of classy.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.
Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. (emphasis added)"

The Palin family, faced with a tough decision last year (their son had down syndrome), sided with the value and dignity of human life. Though they, I am sure, did not want to see their young daughter having a baby now, they have shown their support for her and we see the love for life that has been instilled in their daughter by her choosing to bring her very own baby into this world.

Let's compare that with Barack Obama's own words from just this past March...

"I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. (emphasis added)"

I think we can see clearly what Obama thinks about unplanned pregnancies in young girls, and where Gov Palin stands. This is what we are faced with in the election this year.

As a footnote in this issue, I was reminded of a verse in the Bible...

"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;" (Deuteronomy 30:19)