Looking on the bright side

OK, that happened.

Fortunately, there are some silver linings. Like these:

1. It looks like the Dems will be held to 56 seats in the Senate, and one of those is Lieberman. Assuming the GOP has 44 seats plus Joementum, they should be able to mount a filibuster on the big, important stuff, even allowing for a couple of defections.

2. Along the lines of what I wrote yesterday, Obama will be taking office without a socialist or even a strong liberal mandate. Based on the morning-after reaction throughout the country (at least as portrayed in the media), the main significance of his victory is that we have now elected the first "black" president. (Nevermind that we've also elected our 44th president of white ancestry.) If the decisive factor in Obama's election was his race, and not a program for wholesale liberal reform, then it's not at all clear that the country will support a leftist agenda.

My gut tells me the voters tended to ignore the Jeremiah-Wright-slash-Bill-Ayers-type revelations about Obama because they took him at his word that he was not, in fact, a wild-eyed leftist fanatic. Democratic leaders and the media certainly did their utmost to assure the public that Obama was a "safe," mainstream candidate, who was not even "the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate" as the National Journal had claimed. If that was the figurative deal he made with the American voters to get elected, he's going to have to honor it to some extent once he takes office.

3. I don't relish the thought of the Dems having control of the White House and both houses of Congress. On the other hand, I do sort of relish the thought that they will have all the responsibility.

4. Obama's election makes it highly unlikely Hillary will ever become president.

5. Gay marriage lost out in California and across the country. I'm opposed to gay marriage, but I'm even more opposed to the notion that a state constitution can be amended by judicial fiat. It's a usurpation of our democratic liberties regardless of the cause in whose name it is being done. If the people want to enshrine a right to gay marriage in their state or federal constitutions, let them go through the established amendment process. It's outrageous for judges to claim the right to create new constitutional rights from the bench.

6. Another silver lining, I have to admit, is the fact that John McCain wasn't elected. If he had been, I think it would have been another four years of continuous acrimony and recriminations from the left (so, yes, in that sense at least, "McSame"). This is especially true when you consider that the only way McCain was going to win was in a real squeaker. Therefore, we would have almost certainly had all manner of litigation, accusations of vote fraud, and possibly riots in the street.

It actually is somewhat hard to imagine McCain having a successful presidency under such circumstances. The left would have treated him as a fiend, and McCain would probably have tried to earn their good will by bending over backward to accommodate them. It would not have been an ideal time for the conservative movement.

7. Speaking of conservatives, we now have an opportunity to take a breather of sorts and regroup. The central issue facing the GOP is whether to try to lead the country toward authentically conservative principles or whether to go along with the larger historical trend in favor of ever-increasing government involvement in the economy. Conservatism has been described as a three-legged stool, consisting of (a) strong national defense/foreign policy, (b) social conservatism (including judicial appointments), and (c) economic conservatism as measured by low taxes, smaller government, less regulation, and free trade. The party is actually fairly consistent in regard to the first two legs, despite a number of prominent GOP leaders who are pro-choice. The problem has been in regard to spending, entitlements, and related issues like immigration. There's an inherent problem for Republicans in trying to champion economic conservatism. The Dems and the media tend to demagogue on these issues and portray the GOP as a bunch of fatcats and meanies. We need to find out if there are a sufficient number of Republican leaders willing to make a stand for economic conservatism. Simply advocating lower taxes is not enough. We need to challenge the entire welfare-state mentality that perceives it to be the government's primary responsibility to provide everyone (including illegal aliens!) with a comfortable middle-class lifestyle.

8. Finally, I'm glad to see the Republicans reacting to Obama's win in a calm and generally respectful manner. Conservatives have a lot of work to do to bounce back from where we are. We also have legitimate grievances -- against the media, for example -- and legitimate worries about what the next four years hold in store for the nation. Nevertheless, we can't change any of those things today, and no amount of kicking and screaming is going to help.