Newt and Susan Smith?

So I was over at the Washington Monthly's site this morning, and I saw this interesting post by Hilzoy. You know, Gingrich has been pretty out of the spotlight for so long, I sometimes forget how ridiculous his comments could be.

The reason I post this (besides the fact it reminded me to select Stretch Armstrong's "Union" on the IPod), is I personally believe the Republican Party is heading towards a pretty big fork in the road after November 4th. Barring some unexpected turn of events, I believe Obama is going to win and it is not going to be as close as most predict. I think Obama will win pretty big, and the Democrats will pick up a number of seats in Congress. There is going to be a lot carnage and blood-letting, as blame is thrown around and the GOP is going to have decide the direction they want to head going into the future.

Unfortunately for the Goldwater conservatives out there, Karl Rove did succeed in creating a "Republican Majority." The unfortunate part of it for the Goldwaters, is that Rove created the majority IN the Republican party. Rove rode Bush into office on by grasping the tail of the evangelical tiger. And now that tiger is the most ferocious thing in the GOP tent.

The Palin pick did two things:

1) Palin gives evangelicals their next political hero. She is now there star and woe be unto those that don't support her when it comes time to pick the next Republican Presidential candidate. You can already see her starting to distance herself by criticizing some of the campaign's moves. I have increasingly been comparing McCain-Palin to J. Howard and Anna in my mind. Thanks for the spotlight, old fella. Now where's that plug...

2) Palin's pick cost McCain the election. McCain knows it. The Goldwaters know it. Anyone who is not impressed that "she's so much like me!" knows it. And anyone who has criteria for President which goes beyond the critical question of whether or not one of the candidates are as MILF-able as Stiffler's mom, knows it. It also alienated a lot of those Goldwaters from the Republican presidential ticket.

Listen, Republicans can blame McCain for losing this. He has done just about everything he could possibly do to lose it. But let's face it, once Obama got the nomination for the Dems, it was over. He is, as Colin Powell said, a "transformational figure." I know the haters don't want to admit it, but it is true. One of McCain's attempted shots at Obama only proves it. When McCain tried to turn Obama's ability to go Berlin and draw a record crowd into a negative, he showed he just doesn't get it. For all the harm the Republican Administration of the last eight years has done to the our reputation around the world, the world still wants to embrace the United States. Despite our flaws, the idea of America still inspires. Why? Because freedom and liberty are pretty damn inspirational.

So the choice the Republicans are going to have to make, is which direction will appeal to those that still believe in the idea of America? The ideas of freedom and liberty? Is it a true conservative direction? One that is against big spending and government interference in your life (in reality, not rhetoric. We haven't seen the Republican party truly try to advance those ideals in a very long time)? Or will they choose a direction of being the chosen ones on the righteous path? Where government is concerned with rewarding those that are the chosen.

I hope they chose right. Listen, the two party can be a good system. There is a need for a liberal party that wants the government to have programs to help the less fortunate. There is a need for a conservative party to question the need for the programs the liberals propose. If we could actually get back to those two parties, this country would be better off.