by Patrick Corcoran

Created on: November 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 25, 2008

The 2008 elections finally came to a conclusion last Tuesday. We had just ended one of the longest election seasons and we let out a heavy sigh. The next morning some people reveled and others were upset but the thought of it being over was refreshing.

Thursday morning seemed strange especially to political junkies like me. We had been so involved with the election that it seemed that something was missing. Before the sun set there was plenty of banter about 2012.

The most talked about issue surrounding the next four years is the possibility of Sarah Palin running for president. Pundits from both sides have jumped in to argue the point.

The Democrats and majority of the media point out the mistakes made by the Governor and they continue their attacks against her. This is a sign that they think she will run and they consider her a threat to their new prosperity.

Republicans are befuddled and don't know what to do. Many of them respect Palin but they think she is damaged goods and will hurt their party. McCain campaign officials are even blaming Palin for losing the election.

What about the conservatives? Where do they stand? It seems to me that everyone has written the conservatives off. The democrats and media believe that conservatives were soundly defeated. That thinking in my view couldn't be more wrong.

Let's turn back to 2004. Bush was running for his second term and conservatives who put him in office were not happy. The Republican Party is mostly made up of conservatives and they control the party's fate. The conservatives showed up at the polls in 2004 because they were against John Kerry much more than they were for George Bush.

When the 2008 election cycle began conservatives were happy with Juliani, Romney and Huckabee. The frustrating reality was that the Republican Party was being controlled by less than conservative republicans. It was obvious that they, along with the media backed McCain. McCain was the most non-conservative on the republican side and the media, democrats and moderates wanted McCain on the ticket. If a republican was going to win this election they wanted it to be McCain.

The senator from Arizona had crossed the aisle more than anyone and had sponsored bills with democrats more than any other republican. He boasted about it as one of his strengths. "McCain/Feingold" and "McCain/Kennedy" were two bills that McCain used as his platform but the conservatives felt frustration over.

Conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>