Close the Deal

Today is the day when Americans must be the “guardians at the gate,” as Chris Christie says.

All across the nation there are elections happening where a conservative candidate was never considered a possibility. Massachusetts, that saw the upset victory of Scott Brown is again home to some of these very races. Sean Bielat could very well defeat the Brookline-Barnacle, Barney Frank. In the 10^th district of Massachusetts, covering Cape Cod, Jeff Perry could very well beat Bill Keating to take Bill Delahunt’s seat. In true-blue Washington, Dino Rossi is poised to give Patty Murray the race of her life. And in deep blue West Virginia John Raese is hard on the heels of Governor Joe Manchin in their race for the Senate seat opened up by the passing of Robert Byrd.

Even if these conservatives come close, they will be successful. Opening up the conservative ideology to areas that long ago turned their backs on fiscal responsibility, tax cutting, spending cuts, balanced budgets and small government is a step in the right direction. It may not take just two years to remind all of America that this is a federal republic and ought to follow the beliefs of Thomas Jefferson that it remain so.

On Wednesday conservatives are going to have to look back and thank some of the people who worked so hard to bring the message of small government and fiscal responsibility to the country. Dick Armey and Glenn Beck, Jim DeMint, Ron Paul, and even Sarah Palin have all done their part. The message of Thomas Paine, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry is ringing loud and clear in the ears of Americans today. They want freedom, and will vote for it.

The message of fiscal responsibility is taking root, even in America’s territories. Governor Luis Fortuno is cutting spending in Puerto Rico like he is the next reincarnation of Ronald Reagan. Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes of Fortuno that:

Mr. Fortuño says that Puerto Rico’s recession—which began two years before the U.S. recession—only partly explains the current crisis. “If you look at the past decade, Puerto Rico has had negative growth for the entire period.” (According to his office, the economy contracted 0.2% in the 2000s.) This shows, he argues, that “we are in need of a major overhaul. If we just tweak it a little, we won’t accomplish what we need.”

The election is the tip of the rebel movement in the United States. There is a rebellion going on. The people are rebelling against a government that has spent their children into poverty. The people are rebelling against a government that has forgotten that it exists to protect them, not to fulfill the grandiose plans of those elected to power.

Americans have not forgotten though. John Fund writes that:

Gallup analysts Jeffrey Jones and Lydia Saad conclude their pre-election analysis this way: “This year’s 15-point gap in favor of the Republican candidates among likely voters is unprecedented in Gallup polling and could result in the largest Republican margin in House voting in several generations. This means that seat projections have moved into uncharted territory, in which past relationships between the national two-party vote and the number of seats won may not be maintained.”

Stay tuned tonight to see the crying of tears in the studios of Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews. And remember to get out and support the most conservative candidate your district has to offer. America must rid itself of overspending, overtaxing, big government, big regulation politicians who would put their own visions of grandeur ahead of the prosperity of their constituents.

A Tidal Turn – Deborah Young

Bret Stephens writes this morning that “Only three years ago, Americans became acquainted with a junior U.S. senator with an interesting personal history, notable rhetorical gifts, programmatically liberal ideas and zero legislative accomplishments. Whereupon he was hailed as a saint and elected president.” In that three years, America has seen terrible legislation passed with no time to be read by the opposition and no compromise from the party in power. Why should Democrats feel entitled to reelection at all? They have completely disregarded their constituents time and time again. Americans swarmed town hall meetings and the e-mail boxes of their congressmen, telling them they wanted nothing to do with the radical Obamacare legislation. The Democratic majority in Congress disregarded these complaints and returned to the smoke-filled back room to complete their legislative magnum-opus.

Even many Democrats who came to Washington with good intentions are leaving, dissatisfied with their leadership. In much the same fashion that union leadership has disregarded the best interests of many of their members, the Democratic congressional leadership has simply used the massive numbers they control to push their own radical agenda. Democratic Congressman Brian Baird tells John Fund of the Pelosi machine that, “It’s been an authoritarian, closed leadership.” That leadership has Americans incensed, and poised to elect a massive number of freshmen Republicans to the House today.