2006 Election Results, Talk Radio

NO SULKING HERE!

For Conservatives, Lots Of Reasons For Optimism





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Unlike Democrats after their 2004 election debacle, it doesn't seem likely that many conservatives will threaten to move to Canada, spend months in therapy, or engage in angry, unhinged public meltdowns.

Welcome to the No- Sulk Zone!

The reasons are many:


For several years now, conservatives have grown exceptionally frustrated with the GOP leadership on a number of issues, especially illegal immigration and out- of- control government spending. We've seen so little progress on these pressing matters that the loss of Republican Congressional control doesn't sting nearly as much as it should have.


Rather than being won by Democrats, this election was lost by Republicans. Neither party made a good case for itself this year, but anti- GOP sentiment was strong enough to toss them out.

Quick: what issues did the Democrats run on this year? Other than on the idea of opposing Republicans, there were almost none. In the long run, that doesn't bode well for their party.


This defeat finally gives the Republican grassroots a chance to be in the driver's seat. Pressing for new leadership will be easy now. Over time, the GOP will be much stronger than it is today, through elected representatives who are more principled than what we have now.


The real race is in 2008. It's going to be much easier to get a Republican elected in the presidential contest than it would have been had the party prevailed last night.

And the Democrats aren't going to control Congress by much, so it won't be especially difficult to overturn that result in two years if the party gets its act together. Some of the seats lost to scandals last night are in districts that will be hard for Dems to maintain beyond one term.

The 2008 election cycle officially begins today!


We're not going to miss some of those who were booted last night. Will any tears be shed for Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee? No, he's been a sad joke for years.

Note that Ocean Staters re-elected GOP Governor Don Carcieri, who is fairly conservative, but rejected the Senate's most liberal Republican member.


Conservative talk radio should get a real shot in the arm from these losses, as will the blogosphere. Here's my brand new Inside Radio column on the subject.


Michelle Malkin's perspective on this is right on the mark:

The GOP lost. Conservatism prevailed. "San Francisco values" may control the gavels in Congress, but they do not control America.

Property rights initiatives limiting eminent domain won big. MCRI, the anti-racial preference measure, passed resoundingly.

Congressman Tom Tancredo, the GOP's leading warrior against illegal immigration-- opposed by both the open-borders Left and the open- borders White House-- won a fifth term handily.

Gay marriage bans won approval in 3 states. And as of this writing, the oil tax initiative, Prop. 87-- backed by deep-pocketed Hollywood libs, is trailing badly in California.

John Kerry's late-campaign troop smear galvanized bloggers and talk radio hosts, but it was not strong enough to overcome wider bipartisan voter doubts about Iraq.

So instead of sulking, let's allow these losses to revitalize the Republican Party so that it is much stronger in the long run.

San Francisco and its unhinged citizens may have won a round, but America will always prevail in the end.


ALSO: in Massachusetts, it's pretty clear that Democrat Deval Patrick's gubernatorial victory was a Bay State repudiation of Mitt Romney's national ambitions. Too bad Lt Gov Kerry Healey had to take the hit, however.

Patrick was vague during the campaign and voters still don't know him very well, so his extreme views may come as a shock once he takes office. He's the first Democrat to take over as governor of Massachusetts in almost 20 years.

Once the euphoria wears off, the realities of governing a state with as many problems as Massachusetts will prove too difficult for Patrick and a single term in office (or less if something else opens up he'd prefer to do) seems most likely. In the meantime, Boston's media establishment, led by the elitist Globe, simply can't stop gloating about Deval's easy win. But it's truly a phyrric victory.


Your Radio Equalizer would also like to congratulate Nevada Governor- Elect Jim Gibbons on his well- deserved victory over Senator Dina Titus (D-Las Vegas). Gibbons overcame what was clearly the sleaziest campaign in the nation this year to beat the UNLV political science professor.

In the final weeks of the campaign, every dirty trick in the book was thrown at the Republican, including false allegations that he had attacked a woman in a Las Vegas parking structure. Now, this two-time war veteran can feel good knowing that he's taken on Harry Reid's friends and won.


And here's an oddity: voters in your Radio Equalizer's hometown of Santa Cruz, California resoundingly shot down a hard- fought, union- backed measure that would have increased the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.


Another key point: if the moonbat wing of the Democrat Party can't control itself and begins to push for presidential impeachment or wastes time on wacko conspiracy theories, the American public could quickly race back toward the GOP.


As for Rumsfeld's resignation, this would have been great a month ago, but doesn't help as much now, does it? But if this is a sign that Bush is righting the ship in time for 2008, then your Radio Equalizer is all for it.


Rush is on a roll today, one can feel the listenership reaching all- time highs. Blasting Republicans for refusing to campaign on conservative values has real resonance. Noting that Democrats suddenly aren't complaining about unfair elections this time truly strikes a chord. Drudge quotes him:

RUSH LIMBAUGH: 'I FEEL LIBERATED... I NO LONGER HAVE TO CARRY THE WATER FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T DESERVE IT'

DID YOU SEE THIS? "progressives" are furious with radio talk host Laura Ingraham today.

ELSEWHERE: John at Powerline also believes that conservatives aren't crying this morning. Plus, good analysis at Musing Minds, The Anchoress, GOP Vixen and The American Thinker.


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