Uncomfortable lessons from a disastrous night

By Michael Medved

In the Republican Party, even those of us who are optimistic by nature and make it a point to try to see a half-empty glass as actually half-full, will find it difficult to put a smiling face on today’s election results. As the hour approaches midnight (Pacific Time), we need to begin getting used to the grating, nails-on-chalkboard sound of “Speaker Pelosi” and, most likely, “Majority Leader Reid.” We all knew the GOP would lose seats in both houses of Congress, but the stunning scope of the across-the-board Democratic victories (in the House, the Senate, governorships, and state legislatures) makes 2006 precisely the sort of tidal wave election conservatives had fought to avoid. You can’t explain this sort of sweep with reference to better candidates or strategy for the other side, or blame it all on biased reporting from the media (though that slanted reporting undoubtedly contributed to Republican difficulties in changing the dynamics of most major races).

The numbers from every corner of the country make it clear that the American people meant to send a message to their leaders, and the future of the conservative movement depends on an accurate reading of the substance they meant to communicate, and a realistic reassessment of the current state of our politics. Herewith, some lessons from the debacle—some of them obvious, but others counterintuitive and unexpected.