The Conservative Resurgence Begins

The American people have spoken, and a wave of change has begun. After last Tuesday’s election, Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tried to claim victory. The left-wing media tried portraying the Republicans as a party at war. But the American people, specifically moderates and independents, swung towards the Republicans in significant numbers. The electoral tides have shifted, and if the Republican Party doesn’t waste this opportunity they will ride the wave of economic discontent to major victories in 2010.

Specifically, the Republicans swept the two governorships up for election in 2010. Although the GOP lost a competitive House seat in NY, the loss was a result of a corrupt nominating process, not conservative ideas. As C. Edmund Wright writes in American Thinker, “The Democrats did not lose a 2-1 squeaker last night. They lost two huge races, saw an overall evaporation of 25 basis points of support — and lost by nearly 500,000 cumulative votes in the three high-profile elections.”

The best news of the day came from Virginia. Republican Bob McDonnell, an outspoken fiscal and social conservative, trounced Democrat Creigh Deeds by nearly 20%. The Republicans also defeated at least six incumbent Democrats in the House of Delegates and won the important Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General’s races by comfortable margins. All three of the statewide candidates in Virginia — Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor and Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General — are outspoken conservatives. The left-wing media tried downplaying Obama’s involvement in the Virginia rout, but Obama had personally campaigned for Deeds, and over the weekend Obama signed a personal letter urging 300,000 of his supporters to support the Democrat. Evidently his calls fell on deaf ears as independents broke two to one in favor of the Republican candidate.

The news out of New Jersey was equally dismal for Democrats. Goldman Sachs millionaire Gov. Jon Corzine, who had purchased his previous elections and outspent his opponent Chris Christie by a three-to-one ratio, was rejected by the usually reliably Democratic electorate of New Jersey. This was a major setback for Obama as he had campaigned for Corzine multiple times including just a day before voters went to the polls. Just as in Virginia, voters in New Jersey threw out the incumbent and voted for a believer in limited government.

Of the three closely watched elections, the only loss for conservatives came in upstate New York. Doug Hoffman, a hero of the conservative tea-party movement was defeated 49 percent to 45 percent. This race was a boondoggle for Republicans, as the party bosses nominated a liberal who ended up dropping out of the race and endorsing the Democrat. If Hoffman had been able to run as a Republican he probably would have won the election. If the party bosses had nominated a real Republican — rather than a Democrat in disguise — the Republican candidate would have been in a good position to win.

The message from these results to the Republican Party and conservatives is that they need to stick together. The only way they lose in 2010 is if they sabotage themselves. Conservative candidates should compete in the primary system, and avoid launching third-party bids for office. Senator John Cornyn states that the NRSC won’t interfere in competitive primaries, which is exactly what the party needs. If conservatives and moderates are both able to have a fair opportunity in the primary, and the loser agrees to support the winner, Republicans will emerge united and victorious.

The message to Democrats is crystal clear. Voters are sick and tired of what is happening in Washington. The White House announced that Barack Obama didn’t bother watching the election returns. Maybe this is because Rahm Emanuel and the sycophants that surround Obama don’t have the courage to tell him his leftist agenda is unpopular. Government-run health care is unpopular. Huge new energy taxes are unpopular. His dithering in Afghanistan is unpopular. His bailouts and America’s rampant joblessness is unpopular.

Barack Obama should be watching the election returns. If he were listening he would learn from Tuesday night and take America down a less radical path.