Interesting article that is fairly close to my thoughts on this. People that believe in conservative ideals like small, non-intrusive government and fiscal responsibility need to take this opportunity to reclaim the Republican party:

Highlights:

[QUOTE]In assessing last night's results it is important to note that it was not a defeat for conservatism; it was a defeat for Republicanism, or at least, what Republicanism has come to represent. In the past 12 years, Republicans went from the party that promised "the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money" to the party of the Bridge to Nowhere; it took control of Congress on a pledge to "end its cycle of scandal and disgrace" and went down in defeat as the party of Tom DeLay and Mark Foley.

Having abandoned its core principles, the Republican Party had nothing to run on this year, so its campaign strategy centered on attacking Nancy Pelosi -- a questionable tactic given that, according to some polls, more than half of the country had never even heard of her.

We will hear a lot of reasons for why Republicans lost this year. We will hear that they lost because of an unpopular war, an unpopular president, a culture of corruption, a traditional anti-incumbent six-year itch and a dispirited base. But one thing is for sure. Republicans did not lose on a platform of limiting the size and scope of government.

Just as this election wasn't a defeat for conservatism, it wasn't a victory for liberalism. Democrats intentionally avoided a publicized "Contract With America"-style platform advancing a progressive agenda in favor of making the campaign a referendum on President Bush. [/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.americanprowler.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10604[/url]

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

they lost becuase the surrounded the oval office with people who cant execute microwave popcorn.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

Good article. This part is the truth-

[quote]The Democratic Party will take power in January. Either they'll demonstrate to Americans that they have no governing philosophy, or they'll play to their anti-war base by pushing for a premature withdrawal from Iraq and go overboard with investigations of President Bush.

While the exposure of the Democratic Party during the next two years will help Republicans, the GOP should not head into the next election thinking that running against Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton will ensure victory. Instead, the Republicans need to differentiate themselves by returning to their small government roots and once again becoming the party of ideas[/quote]

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

[QUOTE=Jenks;404329]Good article. This part is the truth-

[quote]The Democratic Party will take power in January. Either they'll demonstrate to Americans that they have no governing philosophy, or they'll play to their anti-war base by pushing for a premature withdrawal from Iraq and go overboard with investigations of President Bush.

While the exposure of the Democratic Party during the next two years will help Republicans, the GOP should not head into the next election thinking that running against Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton will ensure victory. Instead, the Republicans need to differentiate themselves by returning to their small government roots and once again becoming the party of ideas[/quote][/QUOTE] Little presumptious there and insulting to the democrats...not to say that I'm impressed with them by any long shot, but to presume that their only options are to govern miserably or prematurely withdraw from Iraq while not even considering that they may be able to govern well after 6 years of impotence is quite ridiculously one-sided.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

[quote=rubyraks;404338]Little presumptious there and insulting to the democrats...[/quote]

yeah, and?

Our state motto is The Show Me State. So far, the dems have not shown me anything, so until then, i have every right to be presumptious considering the platform they have been running on is, "We're not Bush, " which imo is not leadership. So i am anxious to see the next 2 years and beyond. It's their time, show me what you got. And dont' get me wrong, I'm very glad yesterday turned out the way it did. Enough with this administration.

Btw, they're not going to "withdraw" from Iraq, it's called "Troop Redeployment." ;) I honestly don't know what to think about Iraq anymore. Fucked if we stay, fucked if we go. Hope the Dems do have an answer, because we need one.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

[QUOTE=Jenks;404346]Hope the Dems do have an answer, because we need one.[/QUOTE]

One thing that gives me some hope is this: people are often critical of the the dems for not having a cohesive party message, for being too disjointed with differing opinions within the party itself. Well, we've seen what good having a party that blindly follows a common message has done us.

Perhaps the lack of cohesion within the party will lead to intelligent debate and good legislation. Hope so, anyway.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

I'm not saying that the dems have shown much more than anti-bush during this campaign. All I'm trying to say is that now that they actually have the ability to try and do something, to presume that this term will be either they can't govern at all or they'll go overboard with Iraq and investigations (as if that's so different from what the republicans have been doing up until now with their control) and not even taking into consideration some middle ground is one-sided. The dems have been impotent for years now, thanks to republican leadership that chose to force them to the sidelines and completely ignore them, now with a little power they actually have the ability to do things...so like you, I'd like to see what they do with it, but to prejudge the next few years on the past few is ridiculous.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

dude, who are we kidding. we stopped bush's war to a degree. but there isnt anything that is gonna happen. think back to when clinton lost the house.

VETO VETO FILLIBUSTER VETO VETO.

its for the better though.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

[QUOTE=thesightless;404450]dude, who are we kidding. we stopped bush's war to a degree. but there isnt anything that is gonna happen. think back to when clinton lost the house.

VETO VETO FILLIBUSTER VETO VETO.

its for the better though.[/QUOTE] Yeah, but it'll be fun watching the republicans being the ones doing that now ;)

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

This was a cool article... I don't mean to condemn the Democrats before they even begin...but to the extent that they gained power from the disappointment with the situation in Iraq, I wonder if they won't be fairly impotent to make any difference there. Only thing that would make a decided difference is to get the hell out tomorrow...and my gut feel is that this isn't likely to happen anytime soon.

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

^^I'm not positive that anyone other than the commander in chief has the authority to just pull the troops and come home, just like that, and there's no way the Dems would be stupid enough to just quit funding the war effort. The best thing that will come from having the Dems in control of Congress is to have some oversight and input on the process, because up until today, dissenting voices have been ignored or removed.

Fact of the matter is that we're stuck there until we can figure out a way to unfuck it. At least now we'll have some options apart from "stay the course." :roll:

Re: An Opportunity For Conservatives

^^ I do hope so...as I think about it more, I guess it is pretty plausible that the US may end up moving troops more quickly out of there under the Democrats than under the old powers...