Lott back as minority whip:

After an intense evening in which both men lobbied colleagues during floor votes, the Republican caucus elected Lott, a one-time whip and majority leader, by secret ballot. Lott will be the GOP’s second-in- command to Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was elected unanimously to be the Senate minority leader in the new Congress.

With the midterm elections finished and Santorum, another candidate for the post, failing to win re-election, Lott cast himself as the more experienced candidate and the better choice for a job.

At least McConnell will replace Frist.  That’ll be an improvment, right?

Please?

In reading Swiftee’s response to Michael Moore’s snark to disheartened conservatives, he said something that got me thinking:

You talk about “being in a funk”. Mikey, you cannot imagine our dismay when it became obvious that none of your big mouthed, anti-American buddies really didn’t have the balls to follow through with their childish little threats to leave the country in ’04, but we’ve gotten over it.

Hey – I don’t recall any conservatives threatening to leave the country if the election didn’t go their way.

I also didn’t hear anyone yapping about seceding from the union and joining a nation friendlier to conservative beliefs.

Hm. Not that I’d ever say such a thing, but it’d almost seem that conservatives care more about this country…

From Our House:

What does a Democrat/DFL victory mean when

• All gay marriage bans passed but one, including Wisconsin’s more comprehensive civil unions ban? In Arizona, a similar ban was rejected by a tiny margin.
• Prop 2 passed in Michigan banning affirmative action?
• The death penalty advisory passed in WI?
• Arizona passed legislation requiring proof of citizenship for getting state benefits and for voting. Also passed bans on illegals getting bail on some felonies, being able to get money for civil suits in some cases.

As noted even as the counts rolled in – conservatism did just fine last Tuesday.

And I thought this bit was interesting:

Catholics and Evangelicals have been the backbone of the anti-abortion movement since it started. If this is now a settled question, where will they go next? The evangelicals and some Catholics will go on to other social issues, like banning gay marriage, homeschooling and educational choice related issues.

And that can only be a good thing.  While abortion is a solid moral issue (make no mistake, I oppose it), the issue as a whole has long settled into iron-clad categories:  A thin slice on either extreme either opposes it under even the most extreme medical circumstances or thinks it should be a sacrament for participation in society; thin layers of growing moderation follow as you drill your way inward to the vast majority of Americans.  Abortion is a wedge, all right – a wedge that in and of itself has worn out.  The votes to be gained (to speak cynically and politically) are all in the sub-issues; partial-birth, parental notification, etc.

Most Catholics however, may be in play and there have been widespread efforts on the part of the left to get them back, based on the “social teachings of the church.” This is a murky area, consisting of a particular interpretation of a couple of papal encyclicals, some of the documents of Vatican II and the writings of some theologians. Its been used to justify government action on issues like affordable housing and now even global warming. It’s been coming down the road for years and it may be here now.

It’s been one of the big theological stories ever since I was a kid; are the liberal American catholics going to split from the “conservative” Roman church?  What effect will it have?

Mainstream American Catholic churches have been following their mainstream Protestant cousins to the left for decades.  I think the political shakeout within the church and between the churches is going to be an interesting thing to watch over the next twenty years.

Recall how Tony Blair saved the Labor party from a certain death: he waited until he had seniority and then chucked all the old hard core trade unionists out of the party. The rest may be retired or may be biding their time after he retires in a year or so. But he did a good deal of housecleaning based on elements of the Conservatives’ policies that actually worked. Some people argue that if Bill Clinton hadn’t had so many personal weaknesses he might have been regarded similarly. We will just have to see how the ideological wars on both sides play out. It may well be that Conservatives will have roles to play in both parties.

Interesting concept – and a scary one, if you value conservatism.  Far better for conservatism to be a majority (or strong, obstreporous minority) in one party than a weak minority in two.

What do you think?

Hugh knows:

Tuesday was part Foley fallout and part GOP fatigue. But it was mostly disgust with the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight on the Hill. The country expected a lot from the majorities it gave the Republicans in 2004, and it got very little. The long explanation is here. Team Pelosi is a high price to pay, but two years is a very short time. If the Republicans elect the right leadership, recruit the right candidates, and select the right nominee for the White House in ’08, they will be back in the majority two years from now.

All, of course, depends on the party having its “Come to Jesus Reagan” moment. As Limbaugh among many others noted yesterday, conservatism didn’t get smacked on Tuesday (as, indeed, we saw here in Minnesota, where Gil Gutknecht’s race to the center was rewarded by ejection, while Michele Bachmann is measuring the drapes in DC); overt conservatives generally fared better than the party at large; and let’s not forget that while the polls showed generalized frustration with the way things are going in Iraq, the same polls also showed that people oppose cutting and running by nearly 2-1.

I’ll forgive Tim Pawlenty for taking an accomodationist stance against a hostile (and deeply silly) DFL legislature. Politics sometimes requires pragmatism.

I will not forgive the GOP runnig to the center now. Going Beltway – acting like a ruling party, like the Dems did from the thirties through the eighties – was what killed the GOP this week.

Nationally? Dump Frist, Hastert and the whole gang that squandered two years of political capital. Neuter McCain (or make him act like a Republican).

In Minnesota? Well, it’s clear that something at the MNGOP needs to change; Minnesota has gone from “Purple” to “sickly, cyanotic Blue” inside of two years. Who screwed the pooch?
What do y’all think?