First, Congratulations to Senator Obama.
Second, John McCain gave an amazingly classy speech tonight. I'm proud of him and my ideological fellow travelers. I extend my heart felt thanks to John McCain, Sarah Palin, and their families for the efforts they put forth. I look forward to hearing from Governor Palin on the national stage in the future.
Third, I will be spending the next hour or two nursing a beer or two.
Now, there are many on the right who've already articulated what I'm about to say. I disagree with President-elect Obama on a great many issues. This is no secret. However, I applaud his victory and wish him the best of luck in these troubling times. I hope my concerns about him prove to be misplaced. I hope the next 4 years are peaceful and prosperous. I remain committed to doing my part to improve civility in political discourse in this country. My country.
I will do this by example. I will not fall into the mindless rage that has marked opposition political discourse for the past 8 years. John McCain and Sarah Palin campaigned on the slogan "Country First". I intend to demonstrate that that was not just a slogan, but an affirmation of a way of life. I will not hope for President-elect Obama and the Democrat controlled congress to fail over the next 2 to 4 years. Instead, I will hope that they rise above the bitterness and sheer contraryness that has marred the past 8 years of politics in this country and lead. Lead this country and its people to prosperity and victory.
We here, on the right, like to refer to ourselves as the party of adults. Let's demonstrate that. Let's be adult. We lost. They won. If my hopes fall short we will have hard work cut out for us, not just in doing everything in our power to work against what we understand to be wrong, but also to fight for what we know to be right. It is of the utmost importance that we now look to the future and begin to rebuild and reshape our party. Let's not spend these upcoming years being contrary for the sake of being contrary. Now we have an opportunity to build a new contract with America. Strengthen the bonds of the Regan coaliton.
