First off, Merry Christmas to all! Now onto other pressing matters:

Few people in the mainstream media or on the Left would have thought that 1 year after Obama’s victory, Republicans would be poised for a comeback. In fact, few Republicans would have thought this either. The underlying reason for this is that this administration was elected to bring change and hope and in place of those things we have seen an Washington hand over trillions of dollars to Wall Street, continued expansion of federal government, massive deficit spending and debt, and unfulfilled promises. The final nail in the coffin for Left-wing politics in this country, at least in the short term, will be the passage of the Health Care Reform bill as it currently stands by the House, a piece of legislation that is currently opposed by a majority of Americans. What we are witnessing is an implosion of the Democratic Party which has chosen to swing the sword of federal power in order to satisfy mere political goals instead of leading all Americans. This will be of immense benefit to Republicans next year.

What has been the most interesting thing this year is that the main engine of the movement against the Democrats is not the Republican Party but rather a conservative movement that has swept the country. This means one thing, that Republicans, in the absence of some game-changing event (or fraud), will gain seats riding a semi-populist conservative wave of support… without actually creating or agreeing with the movement to begin with. We need to be clear on this: the conservative revival that is currently underway is not a Republican revival, it is fully grassroots and has taken aim at RINO’s and liberals alike. The question is: from the standpoint of a conservative activist, should Republicans benefit from this movement if they do not abide by conservative principles? Already, we have seen conservative defections in two different races: New York and New Jersey. Whenever they have taken power, Republicans have looked a lot more liberal than their constituents would have liked.

My view is straightforward, I would rather have liberal Democrats win elections against liberal Republicans for three reasons: first, liberal Democrats are more honest about their propensity for big government, taxation for taxation’s sake, being anti-life, etc. than liberal Republicans who try to toe the line and end up doing the same as Democrats (honesty matters). Second, if Republicans continue to vote down the party line instead of actually looking at the candidates, we will never truly have historic leaders. Republicans need to lead, they do not merely need to win elections. Third and most importantly, for the Republican Party to inch back from left-of-center to right-of-center, voters need to make it absolutely clear that Republicans will not win any vote that they do not deserve. To justify the left-of-center charge, look at the mismanagement of the Bush administration, not necessarily with respect to the wars, but rather with respect to growth of government, deficit spending, immigration reform, billions on foreign aid with no strategic value, the first bailouts of Wall Street, etc. we come to realize that Bush did not adhere to limited government principles. I am being a bit strict in my view that Republicans should fail until they come to realize the importance of sticking by conservative issues, but there simply is no better way to nudge them in the right direction. Pun intended.

What does this mean for 2010 and 2012? Simple: Republicans need to strengthen their support of free markets, individual empowerment, and roll back the big government takeover that is currently underway. It would also be nice if they stopped apologizing and bowing to foreign kings and emperors. If they do not, there may be and should be political consequences from the conservative “bloc.” We cannot allow Republicans to get complacent.

-AG