“The country is sending a signal to both parties: We want you guys to
work together to solve problems. You’ve got Republicans running from
the far right much more toward the center. You’ve got a new breed of
Democrats this year in Jim Webb in Virginia and Bob Casey in
Pennsylvania, moving toward the center. So we may be working our way
toward the end of a deeply polarized country politically at the
national level.”

– Former anchor Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News November 6, election eve.

“Will Republicans move further to the right? Not if they got the
message of the election. Republicans lost because they abandoned the center.”

– CNN’s Bill Schneider on The Situation Room, Nov. 8.

Democrats would have us believe that conservatism is responsible for Republican losses. Their view is, of course, the precise opposite of what actually happened and what elected Republicans need to take away from the election. It is precisely the fact that, for the most part, House and Senate Republicans abandoned conservative principles for most of the last several years that they got their butts handed to them.

Geraldo Rivera, always good for a laugh, had this to say:

The Democratic wave that washed over American politics last night
washed away Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and swamped many Republicans
who tried to use the issue of illegal immigration to scare people
into voting for them. I am delighted to say that they got their butts kicked.

Yes, Geraldo is the guy to listen too. Yeah right! The fact is, House Republicans moved to the right too late to matter. Yes, they saved us temporarily from comprehensive immigration reform. Had they stuck with conservative principles throughout their terms, immigration would be a solved issue now, not the next object of demagoguery.

Republicans win when they run on conservative principles. Republicans maintain their seats when they govern from conservative principles. This tripe that the country has moved to the middle is seriously deluded! How can anyone reach such a conclusion based on three consecutive split elections? In fact, the only reason this election was split was that House Republicans spent the last few years trying to out spend Democrats!

If Republicans want to retake the House and Senate in ’08 as well as retain the White House, they had better listen to their conservative constituents. They had better learn that conservatism is alive and kicking and they can’t win without it.

Question after question, reporters are trying to convince Snow that Kerry’s explanation is valid, that he was making a joke about President Bush and he did a lousy job of it. Kerry himself, on Imus this morning, claimed he left out the word “us” which, in his view, changes the whole meaning of his remark. So I went back and tried the statement with the word “us” inserted and it simply doesn’t make sense. Yet the reporters stick to the party line that Kerry simply misspoke. They believe him when he says as a veteran he’d never say anything to denigrate the troops. You would think they could remember the numerous examples of Kerry doing just that. How about his charge that soldiers in Vietnam acted like Genghis Kahn? How about his charge that soldiers in Iraq were terrorizing women in children in the middle of the night? Don’t those examples count as Senator Kerry, military veteran, denigrating the troops? Kerry went to Hanoi and gave aid and comfort to the enemy during a time of war. Does anyone think that didn’t harm the troops? How can anyone actually believe that Kerry has the slightest respect for the troops, the military and anything to do with them? He gives lip service to the troops because it is politically expedient but make no mistake, he has nothing but disdain for them. In truth his only reason for serving in the first place was because of his political aspirations. Pretty much everyone who served with him agrees with that assessment.

Now another reporter accused Tony Snow and Republicans in general of trying to exploit the Kerry remark in order to divert attention from the war in Iraq. You may recall that Kerry said the exact same thing. Are these reporters working from Democrat talking points? How can anyone with a brain believe that the press is unbiased? It is blatantly obvious to anyone who is actually paying attention. Additionally, as Snow just pointed out, he did not bring up Senator Kerry once in the press conference. The press brought it up every time it was discussed. Yet they then turn it around and accuse Snow of using it to divert attention from substantive policy issues! Unbiased media my eye! They are so biased they wouldn’t know bias if it bit them. To them, fairness appears like bias. If it isn’t slanted to the left, it is biased to the right in their minds.

So in the end, Kerry’s defense is that he intended to insult the President, not the troops. He ended up insulting everyone who has anything approaching critical thinking skills. Privately, even Democrats are furious with him and his unwillingness to apologize. Yet for the most part they can’t speak out because they must tow the liberal party line. To date, the only Democrat I am aware of who has spoken out and said Kerry should apologize is Harold Ford Jr and he has little choice considering how conservative Tennessee is and how close his race is. Other Democrats have remain silent or actively defended Kerry. And their willing accomplices in the MSM are helping them along. Unfortunately for them, every step they’ve taken so far has worked to help Republicans. They just never learn. The liberal press continues to act as if they still hold a monopoly on the ability to sway public opinion. I hope they continue to believe that and act as if it were true. So long as they do, conservatism will continue to grow.