Election Night 2008

This is the first night of this blog. I'm watching the returns gritting my teeth with frustration. I'm not frustrated at the country voting democrat. I'm not frustrated with the media coverage of the campaign. I'm frustrated with my Republicans. We have allowed the democrats to mis-characterize who we are.

I became a Republican in 1979. I was 12 years old living in the middle of Connecticut. My grandfather was the head of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee. My other grandfather made me watch the Watergate trial every day after school, screaming what a bunch of crooks all Republicans were. I had my doubts that a group of people could be so evil, but my entire family assured me that was the case. All Republicans were rich, and only worried themselves with ways to help their rich friends. That usually included screwing the working man.

Then I heard Ronald Regan speak. Regan said that government can't fix your problems, because government is the problem. There was too much bureaucracy in Washington, and everyone had their hands in the cookie jar. We needed to tax Americans less so they could spend more to stimulate the economy. We need to balance the budget, so we can control inflation. In order to balance the budget and lower taxes, the government needed to spend less money. There was (and is) plenty of wasteful spending in DC. This made a lot more sense to me than half of the political process was out to screw me over.

I don't believe most Americans believe there is a party out to stick it to them and only help their rich friends. However in the election of 2008 it appears that that argument has won. Democrats stuck the collapse of the housing, credit, automotive, and stock markets at the feet of the Republicans and we did nothing to prove them wrong. Obama stayed above the fray by encouraging Americans to dream.

It's important to point to the future and show how it will be better than our past. The difference is the road we offer to a better life. The Republican road doesn't penalize success, or force you to "share your wealth". Dreams don't became reality without incredible effort. If a country is to encourage your dream, the best way to do that is to stay out of your way. We're the party where a person decides their quality of life, by the decisions they make. If an American makes poor decisions, their life will undoubtedly be hard. However they will still have the opportunity to work their way to prosperity. Millions of immigrants of all nationalities, have proven that true, over the past 200 years. A comfortable life will not be provided for less fortunate Americans, off the sweat or good fortune of other Americans. That's called socialism, and has been proven by history to only benefit those in power while destroying all they rule over. We provide opportunities, not guarantees. We are the party that has proven, you keep Americans safe by showing the strength of our military and our leaders. Negotiating is wonderful. But they need to know you come to the table from a position of strength.

I was too young in 1976 to appreciate Regan and his campaign against Gerald Ford. In fact I wanted Jimmy Carter to win because I did a great impression of Jimmy, and knew I'd be a hit till I was a teenager if Carter won. But this short clip of Regan from 1976 reveals a little glimpse of what I, and most Americans came to recognize as simple brilliance over the next few years. As we now know, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 in no small measure due to the leadership of Ronald Regan through that decade. However on this day Regan and his ideas were defeated. I am inspired by his message to his campaign workers as he takes his defeat with class. I pray Republicans will be as classy with tonight's defeat, tomorrow. And together we can start working towards the 2010 elections, so once again our country can be that shining city on a hill.