Obama Wins, Not Overwhelming

It's official.  Barack Obama is now President-elect Barack Obama.  What does this mean?  Well, perhaps not as much as you might think.  The Democrats did not get the overwhelming majority in the Senate they had expected (although they are still counting ballots in Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon, and Alaska), and they had some gains, but not overwhelming gains, in the House.  Obama did not receive a Reagan-esque landslide.  Was it ugly?  Absolutely.  But it's not certain death or doom for the United States or for conservatism.  He'll claim a mandate (which Bush did with less justification for doing so), but with the alternative media and the Republicans who are left, especially in the Senate, the far-left agenda will not be rammed through like the Democrats hope.  Plus, I still think that once people realize what "change" they voted for (because they don't know that yet), they'll regret their vote for Obama.  He might be The Messiah, but his worshippers will soon find that he's not the moderate that he sold himself as, and he's also going to be incapable of bringing all of that "change" they want.  The Democrats will lose in 2010 and 2012, and Obama will lose his re-election bid four years from now.

 

Of course, that is all assuming that the Republicans manage to regroup as a real alternative to the Democrats and their left-wing agenda.  There will be a number of discussions in the coming days, weeks, and months as to the direction that the Republican Party should take.  If they try to keep the status quo, in which they use the government to try and advance their own agenda like the Democrats do, then they will continue to lose.  They must reinvent themselves as a brand new party, the party of traditional free market, individual liberty principles.  If they do that, they have a great chance to come back two and four years from now and take back power, in which they could start to try and roll back the leviathan.

 

There will be a number of discussions to have in the near future.  Some of those include the potential legacy of President Bush, the policies to expect from the Obama Administration (especially with regards to which ones are successful), and the above mentioned discussion that will have to happen within the Republican Party and the Conservative movement.

 

And I just have to say it again:  This is going to be a hell of a four years for talk radio!

 

That said, how about some links?

 

Georgia race-baiter Rep. John Lewis has been crying for the last few days.  So has Oprah!

 

Robert Novak thinks that there is no mandate for Obama.  Obama and the Democrats will claim one anyway, just like Bush claimed one 8 and 4 years ago.

 

Here's a column that is right on:  The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace.  You just don't get that kind of hatred going from the right to the left.

 

Some are already talking about the potential Republican candidates for 2012.

 

Major League Baseball players' agents are trying to avoid the potential increase in taxes from Barack Obama.

 

Here's a nice sound byte from a Democrat in Virginia:  we have to get over the "simplistic notion" that people who have wealth should be able to keep it.

 

The Republicans are already trying to figure out how to renew their party.  Jim Wooten thinks that Newt Gingrich needs to be the one leading that conversation.  Newt has already weighed in on the election, saying that it was a failure of the Republican Congress and President.

 

We will get a very early sense of whether the Republicans learned their lesson when they have their leadership elections.  Virginia's Eric Cantor already plans to run for Minority Whip.

 

If nothing else, this election provided a roadmap for future Republicans:  you have to appeal to the base first.

 

After the race was called last night, it is now looking like there will be a runoff in the United States Senate race after all.  That means four weeks in which Georgia will be the center of the political universe