Faced with similar losses as we saw last night, Reagan gave this inspirational speech that, with a few names replaced, could largely be given today. (H/T: MM)  Read it for some inspiration if you are feeling down about the party.

Conservatism is not dead.  The party does not need to be “re-branded.”  We don’t need to reach out to women, the young, minorities — we already DO.   Our message and principles just need to be better explained and applied properly to the problems of the people.   And those who think otherwise (many “conservative” writers and politicians who showed their true colors this cycle come to mind) need to take Reagan’s words to heart — “let them go their way.”

Let us encourage the true conservatives of NOW to bring the party together – Bobby Jindal often comes to my mind, and Jeff Flake has been pointed out by Hot Air.  Gov. Palin will surely play a part.  And one of my personal, but not well known, favorites is Michael Williams, who just won re-election as the Chairman of the TX Railroad Commission.  I’m sure there are many, many more. 

Ronald Reagan was one of the best things to come out of another time Democrats had this kind of total control.  Here’s to finding Reagan II.

It appears as if Ted Stevens will hold on to his Senate seat in Alaska.  I think the vote was less about voting FOR Stevens than against a Democrat.  I’m pretty sure Alaskans know Stevens will be kicked out, and they also know they have a Republican governor who will appoint another Republican.

Now here’s the interesting part.  Gov. Palin will get to appoint a successor, then Alaska will hold a special election, according to Ed over at Hot Air.  Not sure when that would happen, but if they hold a special election say next year, Palin could run for that seat and probably win it.  A couple of years in the Senate would be a great launching point for a future presidential run (wink).

Note: After thinking about this for a few minutes, I realized that Palin would have to appoint a placeholder for her.  That would be a difficult task without it looking like favoritism of some sort.  If she were to resign as Governor and be appointed by the Lt. Gov., that would look terrible, even though she would still have to make it past a special election afterward.  So, maybe this isn’t as politically easy as I thought it would be.

So it has come to pass.  My new president will be Obama.  I have never been disrespectful to him, and I will never be.  The policies he’s articulated are socialist, and that’s a fact.  That’s not name-calling.  But you will never see the evil things that people have said about President Bush articulated here. 

Pres-elect Obama will be tested, and let’s hope America doesn’t suffer as badly during that test as it did during 9/11.  And, let’s hope a President Obama responds appropriately to that attack and not how all his new-found European “constituents” want him to. 

Obama will also be closely watched on his policies.  I hope the Conservatives that are left can regroup and stand up against him on his more liberal agenda.  We can’t have card check in this country.  We can’t have socialized medicine.  We have two years to fight this agenda, and hopefully, we can reclaim some power in Congress after they fail to fix the economy.

Anyway, here’s to President Obama and hoping that he’s not another Carter.