Barack Obama has won the election and in January will be the 44th President of the United States. But today, November 5, 2008, is the day the Conservatives retake control of the destiny of this country; to remind Americans why being American is not just about where you live, but an identity that calls us to higher action and an ethical and moral mission to stand upon the principles that founded this country. Today is the day we lick our wounds and grasp the difficult and destined road ahead; today is the day we awaken the Conservative Beast and let him out to play.

Optimism is the backbone of our movement and the drink that wets our lips. Last night was very hard for us to watch but it was a necessary thing; and that is why I have optimism. I have seen the election and the results are clear: Conservative Principles win the day.

• John McCain was the wrong man with the wrong principles. I know there are some that may disagree with me, but John McCain is not a conservative.  He agrees with some of the conservative principles, but does not allow it to permeate from his core.   This election is not McCain’s fault it is the Republican Party’s fault.  There wasn’t a viable conservative to be found in the primary this year, heck, I went to the Iowa Caucus night not knowing who I was going to support.   I remarked to a friend that this was not going to be a good year for Republicans with this field.  This was based on the principles each candidate stood for.  Mitt Romney was probably the closest in the way of verbeage but there were serious questions about his actions as governer.  Fred Thompson could have been that man but chose to not run…well, that’s what I am calling it.  The point, however, is that John McCain is not a conservative and therefore his loss is not a referendum on those ideals.
• Ballot initiatives in Florida, California and Arizona support conservative principles: The definition of marriage was on the ballot in these three states and sought to restrict gay marriage.  As of the time of this writing, the results aren’t in in California, but the ban on gay marriage holds a lead.  Of these states, McCain only won Arizona.  The conservative stand against gay marriage is affirmed but was not exploited by the McCain campaign.  The Conservative Beast must re-awaken and attack these moral and ethical issues as absolutes and not bargaining chips.
• Exit Polls:  Conservative principles win again. On political matters more people considered themselves Conservative (34%) versus liberal (22%) with the remainder being independents.  That still means the middle of the country controls the ballot box and not the far left.
• 43% of people believe the government is doing too many things better left to businesses and people.  Heck of a good start.  The interesting thing about this question was that there was not an option for “doing things about right.”   When you couple this with the opinions of the 700 billion dollar bailout, there is strong support for government NOT fixing problems that people caused on their own.  This is important because people have this attitude about others, not themselves.
• 66% are very or somewhat worried about how they will pay for healthcare. McCain COMPLETELY dropped the ball on this.  It is a pretty easy sell that universal healthcare is a bad thing but the Republicans did a terrible job explaining their position.  Insurance portability and the ability to purchase health care across state lines and the ability for small businesses to band together to buy health insurance is the correct fix.  Add to that tax breaks for the direct cost of health care to a consumer then the conservative position wins again.
• 68% favor offshore drilling. Enough said.  Look for oil prices to make a strong rebound this next month.
• 75% said future appointments to the supreme court was a factor in their vote. Who knows which way this was leaning, but it shows that people are beginning to understand the importance of the president in this matter.  Translating that to the people and explaining why it’s important for them to see the long term ramifications is important.  Still, this does matter to voters and most people could be persuaded, I believe, to see the broader picture.  This is especially important for the pro-life movement.  Convincing voters that overturning Roe V. Wade will not eliminate abortion, but rather allow states to decide for themselves if they want to allow abortion.  People will generally side on the right side of issues if it is local as we see with the gay marriage propositions.
• Taxes would go up if Obama is president (71%) and if McCain is president (61%).  The Republicans have been spending like drunken sailors and liberal democrats.  Trillions of dollars in bailout money and earmarks to states have caused voters to justifiably lay blame for the runaway spending at the feet of both parties.  Bridges to nowhere and millions for pet projects does nothing to help the economy.  There was no alternative to tax and spend candidates for voters this year.  This election was primarily about the economy and voters saw NO DIFFERENCE between the candidates.
• State of the economy:  93% poor.   39% support the 700 billion dollar bailout.  This was a winning issue for conservative principles of less government and less spending but there was no mantle bearer.  58% of people believe their financial situation is the same or better than 4 years ago.  Why was this?  Everyone is scared about the economy but a significant majority are doing no worse since the last election.  McCain needed to frame this election in those terms.
• Disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job, 73%.    Continuing the low approval rating will be the standard as we move into the next election cycle.  People are going to view Obama’s presidency as beginning today so all of the hardships will be laid at Congress’s feet for the next 2 years.  This election has rooted up a vast majority of the Republican party who were appeasers and jumped on board the spending super highway.  The Conservative Beast will come out and attack on all cylindars in the next election and we can hopefully do some damage to the majorities.  Conservatives are at their best when they offer their optimistic view of the government and the people.  This will jive with the Obama rhetoric and make people think about letting Republicans have another chance.

Finally, in two years, Barack Obama is NOT on the ticket.  As the Democrat Party parties and dances we need to work to exploit the negative opinion people have of Congress.  Put forward those conservatives that are eloquent and can forcefully make the case for Conservative ideals.

The Republican experiment of acting like Democrats has failed and it’s time to unleash the Conservative Beast.