More thoughts on the election map

I have spent a few more days thinking about this map that shows the 2008 presidential election results. While initially this map made me feel better to see that the vast majority of counties in the U.S. did NOT vote for Obama for president, I know realize that this map also represents a major problem for the Republican party in its current form.

This map indicates just how bad of a job the Republican party has been doing when it comes to getting their message out for other offices, such as federal house and senate seats...If every one of people in these 'red' counties that voted Republican for president would have also voted Republican when it came to house and senate candidates, there would NOT have been the big democratic gains in the house and senate this year. If this had happened, then even with Obama as president, there COULD have at least been a much larger check on his power that could have at stopped SOME of the liberal ideas he is certain to push for..

For whatever reason, it is obvious that many people who would not dare cast a vote for Obama for president, had no problem voting for candidates for other offices that will go to Washington and likely give him everything he wants...

I have heard many conservative people in my own area justify voting for a democrat over a Republican candidate. The most common reason given is that 'this particular candidate is not really a 'liberal', he has views that are as conservative as any Republican'....

What Republicans HAVE to do is get people to realize that the for all its faults, the Republican party IS the voice of hard working people with conservative values, REGARDLESS of the level of office. We must find candidates for every office that adhere to these conservative values, because if NOTHING else, this election has proved that moderates do not win elections for Republicans. We must make people realize that when they elect a democrat, no matter how conservative they may sound at home, that it will be the national democratic leaders with their far left agenda that will be calling the shots for them and expecting them to 'fall in line' if they want any real power once they are in Washington...The same would hold true for state candidates in states controlled by democrats.

For better or worse, the Republican party is the home of the conservative movement. While I'm sure many 'moderates' and 'intellectuals' in the party would prefer it not to be that way, and wish we would leave, THIS is the party of President Reagan. It will be much easier to repair and rebuild the Republican party back into the Reagan mold than to create a new one from scratch. It is time the moderates of our party realize THEY are to blame for the destruction of the party and recent election losses. Conservatives have been frustrated for years because of the lack of leadership and courage shown by many members in our party. It is time we take this party back, and if the moderates cannot stomach this, then perhaps they are the ones who should leave...

I am convinced that if conservatives CAN take back this party, run conservative candidates at every level, and convince people that the party stands for conservatism from top to bottom, this map indicates what COULD be for the Republican party...