“A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.” ~Richard M. Nixon

The same holds true for our party. Last night, we were defeated. John McCain lost the Presidency to the most extreme big-government liberal of our time. Moreover, the Democrats have a brand new super-majority in Washington, controlling both houses of Congress by noteworthy margins.

I spent half the night trying to explain to my fellow Republicans that all is not lost. They fear for America’s future; some are convinced that the Republican Party may even be in jeopardy. I outright refuse to adopt such a defeatist attitude. I am not a quitter.

Readers, I assure you: my resolve has never been stronger. I was not broken by Obama’s win last night. Rather, I was emboldened. I was reminded that now, more than ever, is the time to fight. The time to fight tooth and nail to maintain our identity as the party of limited government, moral leadership, and National strength.

America will weather an Obama presidency. The Democratic Super Majority will last only two years; my sights are on 2010—the year we take back congress. It is our principles that founded America, and it will be our principles that win back the American electorate.

Beyond that, we have three names we need to watch: Mitt, Ron, and Sarah. The Republican Party is absent many new faces and strong leaders. But if one of these three people begins to act now; he or she can realistically poise him or herself to become our Party’s standard-bearer within the coming four years. Or who knows? Maybe someone better is waiting, just biding time until a brand new Republican Star is born.

The American People are unlike any other people in the world. We openly resent the inflation of the Government. We will not stand for a government taking our money, our liberties, and our ethics away from us. We don’t want the Government providing for us; we would rather provide for ourselves. One of the three people mentioned above can, if allowed, lead us to victory and back to becoming a Republican Party that our forebears would be proud of.

Let the Democrats celebrate today. Tomorrow, the Republican Party must resume a fighting stance. Do not ever give up.

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By the way, since I am a big fan of playing a hunch, there is one final name I want to put out for our Party to consider very carefully: John H. Hoeven of North Carolina. He is a good conservative, and the longest-serving current Governor in America. Just a name to contemplate for a while…

There had to be a Carter before there could be a Reagan.

This sentiment is the only thing keeping me going at this point, as it looks more than likely that we will face a Barack Obama presidency. Yes, that scares me. We will see the Federal Government inflate to unheard of levels and we will, indeed see taxes rise and liberties like the Second Amendment erode.

But there is hope (sorry) on the horizon.

My prediction is this: that Obama—assuming he wins—will only get one term. America tends to lean traditional, and doesn’t like an inflating government in Washington. So who will the next Republican be? If the Republican Party straps on its balls and stops pandering to the Left and the big-government conservatives that currently inhabit Washington, then it will be the best Republican president since the 80s.

Here’s what has to happen on our side, though. 1) Stop the pandering. Republicans have become as good at shelling out cash and entitlements as the Democrats. This must end. 2) We have to acknowledge that, when the opportunity arises, we have to exercise it fully. That means no moderate nominee. We will need a Mitt Romney, a Fred Thompson, or even a Ron Paul. Someone who is not afraid to stand up and actually be a Republican in the vein of Barry Goldwater or Theodore Roosevelt or even Ronald Reagan. If we go the centrist route again, we will lose again. It’s that simple. 3) We need coalescence. We can’t—however unlikely—be a party divided.

If we pull off all of these things, 2012 will be ours. Four years of Obama might actually be just enough to shock the Republicans into action. It might just be enough to make independents realize just how dangerous a Democratic Super Majority in Washington actually is.

Now, all of this is assuming one thing: we lose the 2008 race on Tuesday. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t lost faith, and I still believe that McCain has a shot. But it’s a long shot.

Good things come to those who wait. And we have to remember that if Barack Obama is elected president. We can at least hope that the Bush administration pops all the letter “O”s off the White House keyboards, much like the Clinton Administration did with the “W”s in 2001. At least we’ll get to chuckle a bit.