The dust settles .....

First, let us congratulate President-elect Barack Obama. (Yes, that hurt; it hurt a lot.) But we have to acknowledge that. He will be inaugurated in January, and he will be the president for the next four years. We urge readers to remember to give the office the respect it is due. You can oppose Obama all you want. Trust me, we'll be watching and opposing his agenda.

Second, yes my predictions were wrong. I called the election for McCain, when he was easily trounced by Obama, at least in the electoral college. The House Democrats got their larger majority, which was another prediction that blew up in my face. The only prediction that held the line was the Senate. The Democrats don't have their 60 seats. Hell, they're not even close enough to 60.

The youth turned out this year. Not in the numbers that the media kept salivating over, but they turned out for Obama just as he needed. We can't sit there and say that our get out the vote effort didn't work. Republicans turned out in record numbers. But the Democrats did what they needed to do. Know who else looks like a dummy today? Paul Begala.

"Hey Paul, I guess your side got out more than the eggheads and blacks, huh?"

There are still some races that haven't been determined, like Coleman in Minnesota, even though he's leading the schmuck Franken. (Memo to Minnesota voters: If you rubes were stupid enough to send Al Franken to the Senate to represent you, then you deserve every damn, stupid thing he does in your name. We feel not pity for your lapse of sense, and devolving into idiocy.)

So comes the inevitable questions: What went wrong? How did McCain lose?

Before has-been Peggy Noonan and never-was Kathleen Parker weigh in, it had nothing to do with Sarah Palin. She campaigned her butt off for McCain, and for us, and she energized this base. McCain never excited the conservative base as much as Sarah Palin did. It's clear she has a future in the party. Yes, she's going back to Alaska, and she will finish out her term, likely do another, and she'll be back in the future. Don't worry about her. She's still a rising star in the GOP. She's right there with Bobby Jindal and Michael Steele. We still firmly believe that our bench is deeper than theirs.

McCain lost because of two distinct reasons. The first is the easiest. He wasn't himself. He tried to run on his character rather than his ideas. Ideas, Senator McCain, win elections. Character is a nice addition, but it's not going to carry the day. He has a great personal history of courage and perseverance. But the story isn't going win you an election. Ace has more thoughts on that here.

The night was a disappointment in many ways, and not just in the way the election went. I have several online friends, and they were seething last night; angry, and not listening to a voice of reason. They didn't want to address what comes next. They were content to wallow in their hatred of Obama. They're entitled to that for one night, I guess, but we shouldn't be spending any more time on his win. We shouldn't be wallowing in self-pity or anger. We have a lot of work to do.

Publius II