Cordiality in Post-Election America: To be, or not to be? (vanity)

The election is finally over, and the Republican Party has won big. Our president has won reelection with what most likely appears to be 286 electoral votes and an actual majority of the popular vote. The Republican Party has gained in the House, gained in the Senate, and has gained in state governorships. If ever there were a mandate from the American people for our agenda, this is it.

There is much talk, in the aftermath of our great win, as to whether we ought to show cordiality to our Democratic opposition. The Democrats have spent the last four years throwing every charge and bad name possible towards our president, torwards our party, and towards us personally. They spent the eight years prior to that acting against our deepest held core beliefs while belittling us as "fringe kooks".

The Democrats have actively accused us of seeing in black and white in a world of grays. This is despite the fact that they are the ones that have pounded on the notions that "tolerance" is good, that war in Iraq is bad, that tax cuts are awful, that we are evil, that attacking those who mean us harm is wrong, that traditional morality is passe, and that government-funded programs are the panacea to all our problems and those who promote them are political saints. If anyone can be accused of failure in nuance, it is most certainly the Democrats.

In light of these facts, we Republicans find ourselves in a bit of a bind. The country is certainly strongly divided in ways that many wish it were not. There has been much talk about "healing" the divisions that exist today, and whether, now that we possess the power, we ought to extend our hands in reconciliation to the other side. There are many Democrats in this country who believe that the Democratic Party acts upon the best of intentions, who cannot see the naked Democratic partisan powerplays for what they truly are. Among these people are teachers, co-workers, grandparents, friends, and family members who vote Democrat not because the Democrats truly represent that which they truly believe, but rather simply because they have always voted Democrat. They cannot see the shift that has occurred before their very eyes, in large part due to the fact that they do not want to believe that their party has truly left them.

This election, if played politically for all it is worth, ought to significantly marginalize the influence Democrats have in the government. When the Democrats held similar power, they blew it by spitting on the core beliefs of the same "little guys" they claimed to represent. This election should most likely begin to open the eyes of some traditional Democrats who were under the believe that the Democratic Party was representing a majority of Americans when in fact it has gone about representing a morally corrupt minority of the population. It is our duty to show them that this is the case.

It is not our obligation to reach out to the left. We hold all the cards; we are the powerbrokers. But, while recognizing this, we must also recognize the fact that there are two Democratic Parties out there: the party of the Clintons, the Kerrys, the Moores, the McAuliffs, the Frankins, along with the rest of the far left, and the party of those who up to this point simply have not noticed that their party has gone astray because they have been manipulated by carefully crafted lies. There can be no reaching out to the former. The former is made up of a highly influential minority with strong anti-American sentiments. They wish only for the power to enact their extreme social agenda.

The latter is made up of many indivuals from all levels of society who truly do care about this country and, when it comes down to the heart of the matter, do not necessarily fully believe in everything their leadership tells them to believe in. The latter can be worked with. Before that can happen, however, we must do all that is within our power to help them to see the folly of following those in their leadership, which means we cannot go soft on defending that in which we truly believe. Furthermore, they must ultimately reach out to us. They are the ones that must cross the aisle for the sake of cooperation; all we can do is hold out our hands to accept them. To do this, we must make them realize that we not only know we have a mandate to govern, but that we actually believe in it. Perhaps this was not possible over the past four years, but it certainly ought to be possible now.

The Democrats that we certainly wish to heal divisions with can only be brought to the bargaining table if we stay the course and act on the fact that we truly hold the power in this country. It is only upon Democratic recognition of that fact that the compromises they so strongly desire can begin to occur.

Very well said. I have experienced this "Sweet Nastiness" also, you want to choke on it. I have sometimes just asked them plain out "Why do you all HATE so much, you hate everything. I do not believe they ever wake up to a GOOD day, miserable people all. There is nothing you can do for people that live in the abyess, they want to be there, trouble is they are dragging the whole Democratic party with them, pity to the Zel Miller Dem. party. Hope he can change things, but I doubt it.

It was most interesting today when I stepped into my American History class right after I wrote my post.

The professor of that class is an obvious Democrat, although he never quite comes out and says it. Running up to the election, we were covering the Constitution and the electoral system - to his credit, he was very fair on the matter, although he believed Gore had won Florida.

Today things were a bit odd in class. He started off talking about the election, stating that it was over and that the President has won with a clear mandate. I could sense a certain level of sadness in his voice, as if this was not quite what he had expected. He mentioned the country needing to come together and uniting behind the president.

During the rest of the class he was a bit distant at times. We were covering the period of time after the War of 1812: the Era of Good Feeling where America was very united.

Needless to say, it was quite satisfying... I think more of these people realize that they have been beat than wish to admit it at the moment.

do not believe they ever wake up to a GOOD day, miserable people all.

I think that's true. The Dems thought they would win by convincing people that they were miserable and that they should feel bitter and resentful. The actual facts of the matter - that most people here are prosperous, free and have no external reason for unhappiness - are not important.

One of my sister's real estate clients called up to ask about a house that was listed. She is a very well off woman married to a periodontist; they are retired, and own houses all over the place. She said to my sister, "of course, maybe I shouldn't even bother looking for another house, now that we're going to have to be expatriates." It took my sister a moment to realize what the woman was talking about. She is clearly one of those nutty wealthy leftists who thinks they're going to have to leave the country now that the dreaded Bush has won! What flakes these people are!

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