Thank God the Campaign is Over!

My team lost. In the days to come I will be sorry for that. When I have to pay increasing prices for everything, including gas, electricity, food, and taxes after Congress lets the Bush tax cuts expire and replaces them with lesser tax cuts, I will be angry. When the Dems abandon America’s allies in Iraq, who have been redeemed through a huge sacrifice in American blood, I will be angered and horrified. But at least for now the campaign is over.

Now I can think about other things. I’m not consumed by the battle of personalities, by the gotcha contests, by the obnoxious jerks on the other side (and some on mine, to be honest).

McCain wasn’t my first choice as a candidate. He was my last choice among the Republicans (even after Ron Paul), because a Republican who tries to appeal to Democrats and the media goes against what I believe are the eternal truths and deductive reasoning that underlies the entire American conservative movement. And his reaction to the Paulson (D-Goldmann Sachs) bailout proposal was nuts. If he had opposed it and led the Republicans in principled opposition to it, he would have won the election.

How can anybody pick an acceptable middle course between morality and immorality; between rational thought and irrationality; between seeing three moves ahead and blindness to the consequences of actions? I believe that conservatism’s main problem is not finding a middle way between American conservatism and socialism. For one thing, the American left already occupies that ground. Conservatism’s problem is getting its message to the people past a hostile and uncaring media that reduces political messages to soundbites and rejects all moral reasoning except for the most childlike “if it feels good” sort. The only path forward is for the conservative movement to build up its own media, in competition with the existing, leftist, government-monopoly, broadcast media, and its own education system in competition with the government-monopoly education system.

Palin, unlike McCain, has an instinctive grasp of conservative ideas. She is no conservative philosopher. But she is a fierce reformer and populist, a quick autodidact, who is an undeniably attractive public figure. She’s on the side of the angels on the abortion issue. Her campaign staff fumbled her introduction to the nation. Her initial interviews were cut by hostile editors in order to make her look stupid. She should never agree to do any left media interviews again unless they are broadcast live. This is a good rule for all American conservatives to follow. If a live broadcast isn’t possible, they should insist on full rights so they can post uncut interviews on their own internet sites.

Anyway, now that the campaign is over I can start thinking about other things. No more obsessive reading of political sites trying to find hope in the politics of smear and despair. Time to get back to my usual interests. I did learn a little about the Fair Tax and the Austrian Economics of Ludwig von Mises during the campaign. Those interests will remain.

The future lays before us. Let us not hesitate to conquer it!

Trackposted to third world county, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, , Big Dog’s Weblog, A Newt One, Democrat=Socialist, nn&v, CORSARI D’ITALIA, Conservative Cat, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Technorati Tags: Elections, McCain, Conservatism