After a hard-fought campaign nearly two years in the making, last night a candidate was elected president of the United States. That candidate promised to "cut taxes for 95% of workers and their families," expand the Army by 65,000 and the Marines by 27,000, and enact "a net spending cut" for the federal government. Lower taxes, a strong defense and shrinking the size of government. These are core conservative beliefs. Anyone who claims yesterday's election was the end of conservatism simply was not paying attention to the campaign.A "sea change," this election was not. America remains a center-right country.
Despite a political environment that heavily favored the party of the left, Barack Obama still managed only a 5-point margin of victory. Compare that to a true conservative, Ronald Reagan, who bested his liberal opponents by 9 points in 1980 and by 18 points in 1984. According to last night's exit polls, Americans who voted yesterday are 34% conservative, 44% moderate and only 22% liberal. As Newsweek admitted earlier this year: "Should Obama win, he will have to govern a nation that is more instinctively conservative than it is liberal."
(thanks to Wayne B.)
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