Obama victory not without silver linings for conservatives

First one that comes to mind -- it kills the hoary myth that conservatives steal elections and undermines what little credibility the claim has for elections in the past.

Secondly, that a man of color named Barack Hussein Obama was elected says something magnificent about America, how this truly is a land of opportunity, a meritocracy where talent and the ability to articulate a vision of hope matter to a great many people.

If I had to pinpoint the main reason McCain lost, it was his hopeless incoherence, especially after the financial panic hit in September and we were hungry for steadiness and clarity. Obama projected both; McCain, neither.

Third silver lining -- many people on the Left would have refused to accept a McCain victory, regardless of whether it was disputed. What followed may well have been '68 redux.

Lastly, I doubt we would have gotten three consecutive terms of Reagan/Bush without the disastrous four years of Carter that preceded them.

A governor smarter than expected

One of my favorite anecdotes about Ronald Reagan, from a profile written by historian Garry Wills for the New York Times Sunday magazine and published in August 1996 --

In one of (Reagan's) favorite stories, a student issued him this challenge: "You didn't grow up in an era of space travel, of jet travel, of cybernetics, of computers figuring out in seconds what it used to take men years to figure out."
Reagan's response?
"It's true ... we didn't grow up, my generation, with those things. We invented them."

One of Reagan's key insights

From Peter Scheizer's great book, "Reagan's War: The Epic Story of his Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph over Communism" --

"What separated Reagan from (Joseph) McCarthy and some of the other anti-communists at the time was his belief in the profound weakness of communism. For McCarthy, communism was a thing to be feared, an ironclad doctrine with strong adherents. For Reagan, on the other hand, communism appealed to the weak. Far from being a sign of intellectual strength or political courage, its wellspring was personal weakness."

Escapee exemplar

Happy birthday, Mr. President. I never had the great honor of meeting you, though how I wish I had. Back when you led our great nation, I had nothing but disdain for you. I'm older now, a bit grayer, a father of two, working hard to do what's best for my family.

I remember feeling guilty after learning that you had passed on. I'd been so wrong about you, 180 degrees off the mark. But my impressions had already begun to shift based on my reading of your letters, and by Peter Schweizer's great book, "Reagan's War," and by wonderful memoirs from Peggy Noonan ("What I Saw at the Revolution") and Michael Deaver ("A Different Drummer").

I bought a round-trip bus ticket for Washington to attend the funeral, but the day conflicted with my son's graduation from pre-school, and I didn't want to miss that either. I remember asking myself, what would Reagan suggest? I could hear your reassuring voice -- go to your son's school, and that's what I did. I eventually almost gave this blog a different name -- What Would Reagan Do? -- but decided on Left Wing Escapee instead. I hope you like it.

Something I wanted to tell you had we met in person -- thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, sir, for restoring our glory.