RedState's Operation Leper

Eric Erickson over at RedState has begun what he calls "Operation Leper" to name and shame those cowardly McCain staffers who are attempting to scapegoat Sarah Palin for McCain's electoral defeat. I just don't see what these staffers stand to gain by going to the media on this. I really don't. It's classless and shortsighted. The time for debate over whether or not Sarah Palin was VP candidate material was back in the spring and summer, not now. Their actions do nothing to help further their own careers within the party, nor does it contribute to constructive discussion about the future. Something tells me that Governor Palin has a more promising political future than these campaign hacks.

McCain's staffers need to look inward

Anger brimming over the top at Ace of Spades HQ about the sliming of Sarah Palin by McCain staffers. These folks need to shut the hell up, look inward, and really examine the sloppy way they handled her rollout. This is kindergarten-like behavior. Frankly, without Palin McCain would have lost by even larger margins. Morons.

Democrats faced stiff headwind on Nov. 4th?!

Wow. You don't expect to see news headlines and comments like this in the wake of Tuesday's election results. You've got to hand it to Tennessee; they bucked the national trend and became more conservative on November 4th. I challenge anyone to find another instance where McCain's "coattails" are credited with electoral victories. More on this later.

Aliens cause global waming

Over at The Corner blog today, Iain Murray posts a link to Michael Crichton's excellent speech from CalTech in 2003 about science, junk science, and science and politics. I heartily recommend it. Mr. Crichton died today after a personal battle with cancer. Here's the link to the speech:

http://www.michaelcrichton.net/speech-alienscauseglobalwarming.html

The Bug Man's Analysis

Tom Delay has an Op-Ed up in today's Washington Times analyzing the RNC's overall campaign apparatus and ground game. His main assertion is that the Republican Party, and the conservative movement, has lost its mojo and can't begin to compete with the machine the liberals have put together. Delay makes some good points regarding the need to bring the GOP machine into the 21st century by taking advantage of new media to better get out the vote, but I hesitate to believe that the campaign apparatus is really what killed the GOP. As far as what did, my vote goes to the lack of a coherent message, Bush fatigue, and general lack of excitement around GOP candidates. After all, people have to be motivated to go out and spend money and campaign on behalf of a candidate or cause.

You can read it all at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/05/the-democrats-shadow-party/.

PS - Delay also lumps conservatism in with the GOP as if they are synonymous. I know a lot of conservatives who would disagree with that.

Post Mortems

There are two very good election post-mortems up today at the National Review online, and American Spectator online. They both pretty much sum up my view of where conservatism stands right now, and why it's so imperative to look and plan for the future. Below are the links. I encourage folks to take a look.

Thanks, Phil, for writing such a good piece for the Spectator. It's a nice shot in the arm this Wednesday.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTFlMDI2MTI1ZGVmMzJjNDU5ZWFjN2RiYjllY2RmZjM=

http://www.spectator.org/archives/2008/11/05/conservatism-can-rise-again

The Wilderness Manifesto

This blog has been in the works for weeks now, but I postponed launching it until today for what I believe are obvious reasons. In the wake of yesterday's liberal electoral victories, conservatives are left wondering about the future. Some pundits have gone so far as to say that conservatism is dead, and that America has outgrown it. Conservatives and Republicans alike are playing the blame game, accusing different parties of making the fatal mistakes that lead to last night's result. In my opinion, this is a natural reaction to one of the worst Republican electoral outcomes in memory. That being said, as conservatives we should not linger on the past - we need to plan for and look forward to the future. This is the purpose of this forum.

I intend this blog to be a discussion forum for reasoned and thoughtful conservative thought with respect to politics, economics, and US national security. This is not a closed forum, or a bully-pulpit in any way. I welcome all participants. The future of conservatism, and our nation, depends on sound and consistent ideas, and the successful application of them. I hope that this forum contributes in some small way.