I am proud to be a member of the 'party of positive minded people'.

I am also delighted to be an American.

But, regarding the half full glass and the resurgence - I have my doubts.

Within the next two years, the democrats - with the help of GW - will pass the immigration reform act granting amnesty to all those illegals who have invaded our country.

How can the republicans possibly compete with the 12 million new 'citizens' who suddenly have the right to vote?

I don't think they can.

Therefore, I don't believe that there will ever again be a republican congress or a republican president.

This election has done more damage to our nation than most people are yet aware of.

political pandering to social conservatives have betrayed the principles of small govt, balanced budgets, states rights, & social tolerance.

the radical adgenda of the "religious" right alienated indies, moderates, & many women just as the loony left's adgenda did to the dems in the early '90's.

the party of reagan was elected in '94.

the party of dobson was tossed-out in 06.

First I just want to say a big Happy Birthday to the Marines on their birthday from a Navy man who served some time with you, with special mention for my jarhead father who spent two years of his service whipping recruits into shape at Camp LeJeune. Thanks for everything Dad.

Back on topic, I would like to put a plug in for the democratic party; somehow they managed to not only gain the majority but also abolish all voter fraud.

Not a single instance of voter fraud this last election; no hacked Diebold machines, no minorities drugged so they sleep through the election, no Rovian stormtroopers kidnapping DNC officials, no liberals rounded up and sent into the 'Secret American Gulag System' until the election was over.

Its amazing, somehow all the conspiracies and cheating just disappear when the democrats win, instead we hear "the people have spoken". Im utterly astounded, how do they do it?! Can any dems here explain it to me or is this a carefully protected DFL secret?

Ill end with these words: Nancy Pelosi is my speaker of the house and Harry Reid (presumably) is my senate majority leader. The winning dems were ELECTED, not SELECTED and though I may disagree with some of their decisions, I will support them as Americans because they were democratically chosen.

All you right wingers on here keep talking about how the Democrats need to show some bipartisanship and not just TALK about it. That's plenty fair, but the posts here from both Mark and his followers are still nothing but rabid, partisan spews !!

Which one is it gonna be, you cant have it both ways.

Oh and Bongo, maybe the Dems won BECAUSE there weren't any shennanigans at the polls this time.

But we are still the Party of positive minded people. For us, the glass is always half full.

Unlike our iberal and leftwing friends, when we lose we take it like men and women, not bet-wetting little crybabies.

What about Kerry in 2004?

We now gracefully cede power to the Democratic Majority, secure in the knowledge they'll make a hash out of it.

Party of 'positive minded people', huh? Why do you irrationally hate the Dems and distrust the wisdom of the American people?!?!?

Geesh, you are so full of ANGER and HATRED. Why don't you give the Dems a chance? It's taken the Republican majority 6 years to F*** it up, but the Dems haven't taken control yet and you're CERTAIN that they'll be worse. Are you SO SURE that nobody from the Democratic party has ANYTHING to offer?

Obviously, the American people don't agree with you.

What was angry or hateful about what was written? You libs need to find some accurate words to describe what you are trying to say.

Just look to any speech by Reid, Peloisi or Kennedy for guidance.

I dont see conservatives creating wild conspiracies about how they were cheated or that the election was stolen. We are looking at our party and figuring out not only what we did wrong, but also how we can improve it for the future. No blame for the dems from the right, we are blaming some our own feckless leadership and there will be a reckoning.

I was a "dumb hick conservative" when Kerry had his presidency "stolen" in 2004. To me, you are a democrat who supports his party and can take satisfaction in your party's victory. Big difference in the post-election reaction between the two sides.

I wonder when Webb will introduce legislation to make child pornography legal?

Porter,

The main thing wrong with Mark's post was this gem:

We don't need campaigns of lies and smears - leave that to the Democrats and their lapdog MSM.

Not likely. I am guessing that Mark is trotting out the tired-old argument against Clinton--namely, the electorate was stupidly bamboozled by the media into voting Dem.

No Mark, the electorate just voted against the lies and smears of the GOP. The American people are truly tired of this--that's a main reason why the GOP got clobbered.

IF you are advocating a pullback from the GOP position on lies and smears, than you will probably see some successful GOP campaigns in the next few years. If you mean to ignore the GOP lies and smears, and pretend they don't exist, expect to lose for a long, long time.

Which legitimate individuals in the Democratic party thought the election was 'stolen' from Kerry in 2004? The smears and lies against him worked, but the election was not 'stolen'. Bush, after all, received significantly more of the popular vote!

There are SOME on the right who wanted Allen to do a recount, who questioned the results in MT, who thought that there were other 'irregularities' during this election.

The fact remains that there HAVE been dirty tricks on both sides over the decades (remember Chicago, which handed the election to JFK?). We should be able to get our elections RIGHT. I mean, banks seem to do pretty well with ATMs. You don't hear them say, "Well, our totals don't add up exactly right, but we are within a few thousand dollars, give or take!"

It is in ALL of our best interests to run elections smoothly and have results WE ALL CAN TRUST! If we intend on exporting democracy to the Middle East, we better show that we can do it right!

No, the GOP was dismissed because it ran from conservatism into the arms of compromising values and ideals. Every time they do, they loose.

Bring back the values and ideals of the class of'94.

What happened Tuesday was not a significant rebirth of far-left ideology. President Clinton even said this yesterday. What is was was a backlash against one-party rule that had moved us too far to the right. It marked the end of the 1994 revolution, and likely the end of the Reagan Revolution. Power corrupted the Democrats in the House for 40 years, and Newt led y'all to victory in 1994. But your part failed to govern as conservatives. Go back and look at Clinton's balanced budget bill. The votes are a matter of record. Look at how many Republicans supported him on that.

Tuesday saw a rejection of Ned Lamont by his party, and the ousting of Linc Chafee. Liberal Republicans have no place in your party anymore, which will lead to permanent minority status if you aren't careful. America elected a large number of conservative Democrats, which is ultimately a good thing because it moves our country leftward, but still close to the center, which is where America belongs.

"...unlike our liberal and leftwing friends, when we lose we take it like men and women, not bet-wetting little crybabies!" -Noonan

So there! Nyah nyah! See? We're MATURE!! Not like those BABY DEMS! *sniffle*

"We can first off congratulate ourselves on not blaming...conspiracy theories for our loss....the Democrats and their lapdog MSM." -Noonan

Oh, the irony. Leftwing lapdog MSM = ultimate conspiracy theory.

Also, in an effort to regain the majority, you have to beat guys like Jon Tester. He's been mislabeled as some conservative, but let's look at his positions, not his HR Haldemann haircut.

Supporting renewable and alternative energy sources (biofuels, bitches!)
Raising automobile mileage

Pro-choice
Protecting public lands
Country of origin labels for food imports
Affordable health care
Enforcing immigration laws for immigrants and employers
gun rights
A plan to end the war in Iraq
Increasing the minimum wage
Repealing the Patriot Act
Changing Medicare D to allow price negotiation with drug companies
No to social security privatization
Pro stem cell research
Middle class tax relief

Sure doesn't sound like Grover Norquist's kind of guy...

Which legitimate individuals in the Democratic party thought the election was 'stolen' from Kerry in 2004?

I suppose that depends on who you consider legitimate, and on that count we could probably argue for hours.

If you read my post a little closer, you will notice I used the words "I" and "Me", meaning I as a conservative regular-joe was accused of being a doltish hick by liberal regular-joes. Most pols arent going to be stupid enough to say such a thing, but the press and the dem supporters had a field day after the 2004 election depicting conservatives as idiots and cheaters.

Do you hear calls from average conservatives demanding that Diebold execs be dragged before a congressional panel? Are republican pols voicing concern that perhaps there were voting discrepancies that need to be investigated? Are regular-joe conservatives experiencing Post Election Stress Disorder and seeking treatment, big business for awhile in Florida?

No, no and no. We accepted our loss and are now trying to figure out what happened and why. Mehlman is leaving the RNC, Hastert has refused to seek minority leader status; did Emmanuel or Pelosi question their party after 2004? No again, they blamed the republicans for dirty election-day tricks and spoke cryptically of Rove perhaps influencing the result.

Well, moving forward I think we should all come together to make all Americans feel more secure about their electoral process. I've already heard some lefty extremists saying that Rove threw this election so that it would throw the Democrats off the scent of the overall long-term election theft. Needless to say, I am one liberal who doesn't buy it. I have faith that America chose the President they wanted in 2000(Gore, by over half a million), 2004 (Bush, by a healthy margin), and the Congress they wanted in 2006.

But one thing I will press my leaders on as the majority is paper trails, paper trails, paper trails. Not to mention federally mandated numbers of equal voting machines in all districts.

Do you believe everyone who voted for Tester agreed with everything on his platform? No, as the data shows, voters were acting in a large part on corruption and scandals, and the result was a statistical squeaker. How many conservatives stayed home and refused to vote, considering MN had the highest national turnout at a paltry 60%.

If a reputable conservative arises to challenge Tester on the things he supports, like abortion and the repeal of the PA (if it isnt already gone), red-staters may decide to turn back to the repubs and regain majority status. Voters are smart enough to red the tea-leaves on the bigger issues, such as SCOTUS appointments and long-term national security.

You want to know why the Republican Party was sent packing just tune into Limbaugh? Today it was Dingy Harry this, Dingy Harry that, misquoting him, and taking him out of context. (Do any of you ditto heads know why he calls him Dingy? Reid is a pro life conservative Mormon.) Mocked every call by Reid to work together. Callers were calling to agree with Limbaugh. The Radical Right learned nothing Tuesday.

There will be subpoenas. Even Republicans have to be little curios as to what was discussed between the oil executives and Cheney. While I believe lawyer and client information is protected, meetings between big oil and Cheney need to be made public. After all Clinton was issued over 1,000 subpoenas. I don’t think the Democrats will waste the people’s time with this many. Republicans even issued several subpoenas involving Clinton’s daughter’s birthday party. In six years the Bush administration has been issued zero Congressional subpoenas. Although finding out what we got for our $350 billion in Iraq may not be at the level of a birthday party by Republican standards, I think such issues need discussed

America elected a large number of conservative Democrats, which is ultimately a good thing because it moves our country leftward, but still close to the center, which is where America belongs.

I guess we will have to see how the liberal old guard responds to the demcons in their midst; if the blue-dogs roll over for them there will be electoral hell to pay.

Im not sure how your analysis of Chafee's demise works; according to you America chose to put dems in power which means Chafee was doomed because he wore an (R). If republican voters turned on him and elected his democratic opponent, then they obviously thought the democrat was a better choice, either way its a win for the DFL.

The RNC supported Senator Chafee in his bid to beat a more conservative opponent during the nominee process, how does that equate to not having room for liberal republicans?

did Emmanuel or Pelosi question their party after 2004? No again, they blamed the republicans for dirty election-day tricks and spoke cryptically of Rove perhaps influencing the result.

Evidence, please.

Actually, the Dems DID blame themselves (and Kerry) for their loss. Remember their "Hope is on the way!" lame-ass 2004 DNC Convention? Meanwhile, the Republicans played for keeps with their evisceration of Kerry, the Swift-Boat Liars, the "Terrorists want the Dems to Win" rhetoric, etc.

Kerry NEVER fought back!

Don't you think the Dems finally finding their testicles was a direct result of 2004? Don't you think all the "hate for Bush" that the Republicans often decry was a result of the 2004 election?

Kerry never clearly articulated a plan and more importantly he never FOUGHT BACK. This led MANY Americans to say, "If he can't defend himself, how can he defend America?"

Democrats have learned their lessons from 2004. The question is, will Republicans learn their lessons from 2006???

Mark, the people have spoken clearly and the message is that they did not like the direction you were taking the country nor did they like what you stood for. They also felt you were seriously out of touch with most Americans.

You have a chance at regaining power, but only if you take the party apart and rebuild it from the ground up the way it used to be, pre-regan, oust out all the neo-cons and move forward as a closer to center Republican party. That is a party that many independants would get behind.

However change nothing other than some faces and you are likely to be backbenching it for another 50 years.

Axis,

No, we lost because while holding power, we didn't give the American people a compelling reason for retaining us in power. Given the Congressional GOP's pork barrel spending coupled with a few juicy scandals, the GOP base stayed home just enough to let a couple dozen Democrats squeek to narrow victories, thus handing the Congress to a Party which dares not admit what they stand for.

Our path back to power lies in clearly enunciating the broad theme of reform conservatism we advocated through the 80's and 90's: low taxes, regulation reform, reducing the size of government, judicial reform, etc. If we do that, and we will, while the Democrats try an endless rehash of the past coupled with their normal irresponsibility in matters legislative, then we'll sweep back to power in 2008...remember, unlike the Democrats in 2006, we only need a net of two in the Senate.

2006 wasn't 1994 - the Democrats didn't win 8 Senate Seats, 54 House seats and more than 500 State legislative seats....

And how do you plan on doing that Mark, considering that you party is infected with Neo-cons who are for tax cuts mostly for the rich, benefits to the rich, bigger government, cronyism, and so much more.

Mark-

The terrain looks rough for you guys in 08. We have a legitimate shot at a majority of the 12 you have to defend.

Oh and Bongo, maybe the Dems won BECAUSE there weren't any shennanigans at the polls this time.

Curious that there was supposedly massive fraud the last two elections and this time there were none, and that those results coincide with who benefited the most from the election.

The repubs were in charge yet they decided NOT to use their cheating ways to alter a very close election? You dont find that odd? Heh.

We have two years to see what democratic infections rise to the surface. As was said perfectly on a different thread, being in power means you dont have the priviledge of blaming the other guy anymore.

Republicans just got kicked in the shins and hopefully will start to clean house, hell they already have. Guys like Mike Pence are going to come to the forefront, a solid conservative who wont pork out the money and would have kicked Foley into the Atlantic had he been in charge. Old makes way for new.

Axis, you need to keep the last election in mind; blue-dog democrats squeaking by on low-turnout. And it wasnt a nationwide assault, the senate is a majority by a single person. Im not saying that the dems didnt deserve to win, democracy held true like it should, but the democrats arent without their own scandals and potential missteps.

Look..it is a blessing the Democrats won..

We can now re-group and bury them in 2008.

This is a good and fun war..Let the battle begin..We Republicans will prevail!

GOOD NEWS! Spine sited in Congress!

Florida Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite Condemns CAIR Pressure Tactics: Lgf, "Big LGF kudos to Florida Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite, who responded to a CAIR pressure campaign with all the respect it deserved:"

TampaBay.com: "Brown-Waite on Muslim bashing"

Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite on Thursday angrily refused calls by a Muslim advocacy group to condemn a prominent Hernando County Republican who called Islam a “hateful, frightening religion.”

Brown-Waite condemned Gov. Jeb Bush and the head of the Republican Party of Florida who last week demanded an apology from Commissioner Tom Hogan and his wife, Mary Ann Hogan. On Friday, Gov.-elect Charlie Crist severed Mary Ann Hogan’s relationship with his campaign in response to a letter from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

It’s been more than a week since Mary Ann Hogan’s letter touched off the controversy, but Brown-Waite, through her spokesman, declined to comment until today. CAIR faxed a letter to her Friday evening.

“Mrs. Hogan expressed in her statements the views of many of my constituents,” Brown-Waite wrote, “and while they do not encourage harmony in the community, they should demonstrate to you how many United States citizens perceive your faith.”