Post-Election Thoughts

A number of thoughts on the aftermath of Tuesday's elections:

So we've elected our new president. The election obviously didn't turn out the way I wanted. So what is the appropriate response? I think it is one of support where that term means support by praying for our leaders for guidance and strength. In terms of actions, the most I can say is I'll support President Barack Obama where I can and oppose him where I must. If he follows through on policies based on his record and his statements, there will be plenty to oppose. However, I'll always try to separate intense opposition to policies and actions from attacks on the man's personal dignity. Unfortunately, that line was not respected by those who became unhinged in their opposition to the Presidency of George W. Bush.

All the other serious implications aside, the historic first of Barack Obama's election in breaking a racial barrier is significant. Once such a barrier is crossed, it will not be so much of an issue in future campaigns.

There is a lot of discussion right now on how Republicans and conservatives come back from this election. Probably the biggest challenge is to meet is communicating in the current media environment. The thriving alternative media is a growing refreshing source of information and commentary. However, it was obviously still not enough to overcome the increasingly blatant distortion and omission that was part of the conventional media coverage this year. The reaction has to go beyond complaining about the situation to comprehensively planning to go through, over and around conventional media sources to reach people who so far are not aware of or don't take the time to investigate alternative sources of information. This includes keeping on top of rapidly evolving communications technology.

Communicating with younger citizens, who voted in a strong majority for Obama this time, requires conveying a message in their terms. Simply describing Obama's tax plans as 'socialist' does not have much of an impact on those who are too young to remember the Soviet Union or Ronald Reagan. Many younger Americans may have even been told by college professors that socialism is a good thing. It is important to communicate concisely and directly how a redistributive tax proposal would diminish their dreams of future opportunities.

Educational, cultural, scientific and religious institutions often are staffed with persons who consciously or not, tend to address public policy questions (e.g. climate change) in a way that promotes a particular point of view as established fact, even though the actual facts often lead to alternative conclusions. Changing the political landscape of a society goes beyond campaign strategies and must include a long term strategy to take these other influences into account.

There are of course, the specific policy areas at stake now: life issues, national security, economy, etc. that will need to be addressed proactively in this new political environment (with some definite priorities of intensity: e.g. a policy destructive of human life being a more grave situation than a bad tax policy).

UPDATE: 11/09/08: Paul Mirengoff expresses similar sentiments on maintaining a balanced response in this column.