Conservatives with a Cause Needed

2006 will ultimately be remembered in political history as the meltdown of the Republican Party and it's control of the American government. As we look back on the past year, there isn't much to remember that can be listed as a success by Republicans, and this is coming from a Conservative and a Republican.

When reflecting on the failures and the self-implosion of the party and ideals, I very much echo the comments of Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), when he said to his caucus, "We didn't lose our majority. We lost our way." The steady but sure downward spiral of the Republican control of Congress didn't begin in 2006, and it wasn't all about Iraq. It was about corruption. It was about runaway government spending, and it was very much about the inability of a party which controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress to pass a single piece of meaningful legislation that improved the lives of ordinary Americans in anyway.

Republicans took their eye off the ball, and not only lost the ball, but lost their very identity. Identity is important, because politics has to be more than just the public's perception of what's happening in Washington, it has to have some substance. It has to accomplish something. Those efforts and accomplishments are guided by the party's identity and fundamental principles that guide it. Unfortunately, governing became more about securing power than it did about governing. In that process, the identity was sidestepped for power, and substance for perception.

This however does not have to continue to be the case. Republicans and Conservatives have a chance, and must arise to right the ship and guide our nation back, and help us "find our way" again. In the next two years, we can not just sit back and wait for the Democrats and Liberals to self-implode, nor can America afford for us to be obstructionists as the Democrats have during their time in the minority. We must raise up sound ideas, and raise the dialogue and argument to return morality, fiscal restraint, and limited government back to America. We must compete. We must argue. We must present our case and our principles to the American people, and pray that the gaffes of the past will not be repeated in the future.

Today is a new day, and 2007 presents new opportunities for a new conservative revolution! Join me in lifting the banner!