Doug, I hope we can get gridlock again. I had hopes for the Reps, but if gridlock causes a moral reprobate liberal like Bill Clinton to sign welfare reform and one-party control causes a “conservative” like Bush to expand the welfare state at a greater pace than LBJ, I’ll take gridlock.

My fear, though, is that Bush really is a liberal. He has indicated publicly that he doesn’t think abortion should be outlawed, that he supports civil unions, and most heinously, there are whisperings he is looking forward to working with Democrats in the HOR to pass his amnesty.

I, like Brian above, am a Reagan conservative (I have even referred to myself as an independent conservative). I see the big picture. This election has done nothing but speed America to its eventual demise. But to answer your question, I don’t think they necessarily deserve to lose, but I’m not suprised that they did. Although it have been increasingly difficult to tell which party is which, I still give the edge to the Republicans. They give me more hope.

I have to say that although I like President Bush and voted for him, I have been disappointed in his “compassionate” conservatism. If you have to put a compassionate in front of conservative, then I guess you aren’t really conservative. Bush, unlike Reagan, is not leading a movement of conservatives and I think this ultimately was his downfall. He bragged of having “politcal capital” which he was going to spend after the last election and he has done nothing of the kind. He should have stopped playing nice with the Democrats and taken the gloves off. I liken it to a football team being up by 2 late in the game, going into prevent defense and allowing the other team to drive down the field and kick the game winning field goal.

Anyway, great site Tom. Keep up the good work.

I won’t rail about two-term limits, etc., but I really have started having trouble telling the two parties apart lately. And not because the Dems are moving right. The bottom line is, we live in an increasingly fallen world, and “power corrupts” — not to mention that the GOP, which for the four decades plus prior to the second Clinton administration was the minority party, still acts like the minority party.

So the nation-building of the neocons is not the way to go. And the cowering in the corner the Democrats suggest just disgusts me. But I don’t think — sorry, Pat! — isolationism is the way to go, either. So where’s the happy medium?

I’m not gonna touch your comments about Scots-Irish hero-worship… too irritated about all this other crap to treat that fairly.