Post-Election Republicrats

It will be interesting to see what the shape of the Republican "re-tooling" takes over the coming months. Neo-con Bill Kristol made the argument last week that a McCain victory would help "liberalism," among other things, and be a cause for both Democrats and Republicans to rejoice (Hey Liberals...), but now the discussion turns to where they go from here. Undoubtedly, Kristol and others will be making the case that the mistake was going with McCain in the first place, and that Palin will help recapture the true essence of conservative thought, and therefore the vote. The case will be an interesting one to watch. Poll after poll seemed to suggest that the choice of Palin was a drag on McCain, and yet the argument will have to be made on how she is now the most qualified to lead, following a long period of cultivation--longer than most people think, according to the New Yorker's Jane Mayer (Palin: Insider).

We will have to wait and see which pig gets the lipstick, since moderate Republicans like Colin Powell will be making the case that the opposite is the problem; the Republican party has been too divisive. Ever since the Newt Gingrich era in the mid-90s, the Republican party had specifically suggested that it had the high ground and was willing to not only use it against democrats, but it chased moderates out who did not toe the line. Even moderates like Gordon Smith, now locked in a battle at the moment in Oregon, have voted consistently with the party line. The price has been too high to do otherwise on any significant issues.

The Democratic victory is an historic one, but the reaction and debate among the Republicans will be almost as fascinating to watch from now on.