Following the presidential election I searched for words to explain how I felt not necessarily about the results but about the direction both parties needed to pursue to bring at least a bit of civility back to the process and Washington.

Unfortunately, those words never came as I felt sort of hollow on election night (I can’t say I would not have felt the same if John McCain would have won).

As we have moved past the election the watch and wait period begins..and still there is this void which personally I have never felt following an election cycle..like I have convinced myself it no longer makes much difference (social issues aside) which party is in power as the infighting will preclude any reasonable thought and debate.

No doubt I will remain a moderate conservative but a cautious one at best. The right had better seek out new blood, young blood who understand the issues facing those who are the future of this country and when doing so formulate a message which resonates with the voter. In this they have failed miserably in both 2006-2008.

Below is a portion of a post by AJ Strata with which I completely agree:

I recall how badly the left overplayed their attacks on Reagan. They tried to make him out to be the devil incarnate. The devil never appeared and the left looked stupid. The far right is poised to make this same mistake. The party of family values and the average American is a good conservative message. But it cannot be tainted with wild and unsubstantiated accusations. All it does is cement the opinion the GOP is full of hypocrites and extremists.

I like how Sarah Palin has been down in Georgia accepting the message of America’s choice and promising to work hard to earn back their trust. One way not to do this is to make wild claims regarding the choice of President that a clear majority of the voters chose. By attacking Obama you attack the judgement of these people. If Obama falters and demonstrates radical liberal policy views then the criticism can hit the mark. But as long as he is anything but that, the criticism simply reflects poorly on the critics.

The GOP needs to understand that when given the choice between two evils, they were not selected as the lesser evil. Pragmatism and respect for people who are not far right would go a long way to rebuilding the trust of the voters. Insulting their intelligence and choices will not lead to a resurgent GOP.

(emphasis-mine)

Maybe if the GOP can conduct themselves as adults during the Obama years and refrain from the name calling and vitriol we have seen in the past eight we can begin a process of repairing the rifts which have driven this country to division. Only time will tell.

Written by Sue

One Response to “Honesty and Civility..A Good Place To Start”

1. ~J~ says:

   December 2, 2008 at 11:35 am

   It has really been the last 16 years. Democrats thought Republicans were unfair to Bill Clinton so they turned the tables and GW Bush got the dirty end of the deal. The fact the election went to the courts didn’t help.

   I think the Republican party has learned a lesson and can rebuild. I plan no attacks on the new president but will strongly disagree when I think he is wrong.

   We are heading down the wrong path on the economy with bailouts for any and every one. This madness has to stop and the free market needs to sort itself out.

   More than watching the republicans we need to keep an eye on our new congress which will have the power to do anything they want and I can’t think of many more partisan people than Pelosi and Reid and their committee chairmen.

   I also think we feel empty because after such a long campaign it’s like the air was let out of our balloon. I got a call the other day from the college republicans of SC. Before the fellow said more than who he was with I cut him off, rather rudely I’m afraid, by saying we just finished the longest campaign in history and I was not interested in listening to Newt’s message or giving any money.

   We need to stop the continuous campaigns.

   Reply