It's the end of the world as we know it...

It seriously is the end of the world as we know it.

Before Tuesday, I had high hopes for America. I firmly believed that America would look past the empty promises and appearances of the most liberal candidate ever to run for POTUS in the history of the United States. I firmly believed that America would stand for traditional ideals of conservatism, and that we could keep this trend of socialism from fully coming to pass.

I was wrong.

And I wept for America on November 4, 2008. I wept for what I saw her becoming. I cried when it looked like conservatism died.

I want to take the time to break down why I think Obama won and McCain lost. Some of what I have to say isn't the general consensus, but this is what I saw happening.

McCain ran a lousy campaign. He alienated conservatives (until he selected Sarah Palin), and he didn't mobilize young voters using means like Facebook and Myspace. He didn't try to get the funds that Obama garnered (although I have to wonder how many of those funds came from his mob connections). Sarah Palin DID NOT cause him to lose. If anything, his choice of her as his running mate drew real conservatives like me into the campaign. I don't believe the smears about her before and after the election. I think those were caused by his campaign managers trying to cover their butts and shift the blame from them. They ran a lousy campaign! He didn't utilize Obama's nefarious connections with Wright and Ayers - in fact, his campaign managers and aides spent more time smearing Sarah Palin than they did Obama. He came across as wishy-washy and unclear. He never took a strong stand on the issues, unlike Sarah Palin. And he muzzled her when she was obviously the bright spot in his campaign.

Obama ran an excellent campaign. He mobilized young voters and used the people's dissatisfaction with the current administration to get voters. His promises were good and enticing, though anyone with a brain and knowledge of history could see right past them to what they were. He's one heck of an orator, and he knew how to get crowds fired up. And (dare I say it) he used his race, and people who had never voted before turned out en mass to vote for him.

In the days after this election, the world has seemed different to me in a way. I see a lot of changes coming our way - and none for the better. Just two days after the election, Russia is poised to begin its reconquest of the former Soviet Union by force. Iran, for the first time, has congratulated the United States in its election of the most liberal president in history. Hamas fired missles at Israel. Africa celebrated like nothing I've ever seen. Just two days after the election, Obama has already chosen as his chief of staff one of the most aggressive Democrats I've ever seen, a man who has threatened people that stand for conservatism. Other Democrats are already starting their in-fighting, vying for power. He has promised to take away the missile defense system that Bush put in place after 9/11. He's promised to create a militia-like army under the control of the federal government. And it's downright scary.

But I still have hope. Conservatism is not dead here in America. It is in exile, but it is not dead.

57 million people turned out to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. A whole slew of young conservatives and right-leaning moderates are organizing on the Internet to put conservatism back in the Congress in 201o and in the White House in 2012. We're frightened by what we see, but as Laura Ingraham said yesterday, this is in no way a defeat for conservatism. We may be down, but we are not out. We voted on the issues, not on the candidate. I think about Michele Bachmann in Minnesota, the victim of a vicious smear campaign by Nancy Pelosi and a Congresswoman from one of the most Democrat-leaning states in the Union. And she was reelected on Tuesday. She's promised to fight tooth and nail for conservative values. Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Rush Limbaugh are still on the radio, talking about how the GOP needs to reform and steps we need to take to make sure we still have a voice.

I want to see conservatism redefined. What are conservative values? What do we stand for? What defines us? These are going to be the questions we need to ask in the next four years.

I want to see a new group of conservatives rise up in the GOP. I'm not a member of the GOP, but I still feel like if they can make some major reforms in the party, it will still be a strong force for conservative values. I look for people like Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, and Sarah Palin - young spitfires who are pumped up about maintaining the Constitution, limiting government, and protecting family. Don't for one moment count Sarah Palin out of this. She made some mistakes in this election, partly because of her inexperience in the public eye. But she's a politician through and through, and if we give her four years, I have no doubt that she could be a great choice for a position of power in the Republican party, if not as president or vice-president, then in a cabinet position or in the Senate.

I want to see young conservative like me rise up and say that we're tired of being lumped in with the liberal youth of this country. Some of us know what the Constitution says and what it means. Some of us know history and understand the impact that this choice for president will have on this country and the world. We know how to utilize technology to get people fired up for conservative values, and we can mobilize people like no other generation in the past. Don't count us out just yet.

It's entirely possible that Barack Obama could be a good president. I worry about some of his policies, and I think that his choices for his cabinet are very telling about the kind of policies he plans to implement. No matter what, I'll still pray for God to guide him in his leadership of America and I congratulate him on his victory.

One thing that I've been hearing is that it's always darkest before the dawn, and I think that's true. We can use this time to regroup and to work the Conservative Underground. We can use this time to band together and unite for the values that our Founding Fathers held dear. God still remains sovereign, God still is on the throne, and God is still the God of this nation. "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!"

God bless America. Even now.