Before I really get rolling, I want to take a minute and talk about the horrific events at Ft. Hood that took place yesterday. 

I’ve always been a staunch supporter of the United States Military, and its personnel. I was coming home from work and saw it on the news when I walked in the house. It was one of the most disgusting displays of humanity that I had seen since September 11^th. This man, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, did something deplorable. He was known to be politically against the war, and had spoken about how Muslims should not be made to fight other Muslims. He had had a recent past of poor performance reviews, and decided to take the coward’s way out.

Chanting “Allahu Akbar” (god is great) he turned his guns on his fellow soldiers. He killed 13 and wounded over thirty others. This country and it’s military gave him a chance, a life, and an education. Nearly half a million dollars I hear in that education too. It’s disgusting that this is how he chose to show himself. He ended up being a terrorist, a scumbag, and a disgrace to the uniform.

I want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the men and women of Ft. Hood. I also want to say that I wish they had killed him when he was taken down.

Okay, now onto what I was originally had written, which deals with the election victories for the GOP this week.

I’ll admit I did a little bit of partying on behalf of the GOP victories.   After losing two straight elections, it was a pleasant surprise to see some life breathed back into the Republican brand. These were not RINO’s taking home the gold either. These people were running as Tax-cutting, small-government, traditional-valued conservatives.  

The State of Virginia was painted red across the board, as Republican Bob McDonnell beat out Democrat Creigh Deeds, 58% to 41%. To have a Republican win with a 17-point margin of victory in a state Obama won soundly last year is fantastic for the GOP brand. McDonnell is not the only one celebrating in Virginia today.   The Republican candidates for Lt. Governor and state Attorney General also won decisive victories. Three-for-three in ‘The Old Dominion State.’

Virginia showed quite a turnaround in exit polling from last year’s results. In polls conducted by Edison Research, we saw a dramatic change from last year. In 2008 the number of people who identified themselves as members of the GOP hug at about 33%. This year it topped 37%. During last year’s election, the number of self-described Democrats was at 39%. This year it is down to 33%. 

Creigh Deeds spent a decent amount of time trying to show that McDonnell’s conservative cred meant that he was oppressive towards women, but according to those polled, McDonnell took women 54% to 46%, and ‘working’ women even preferred him over Deeds 51% to 48%. 

The top issues in Virginia were the economy by 47%, health care by 24% and taxes by 15%. Conservatives and Republicans both showed up in greater numbers than in 2008, and it paid off. 

In New Jersey, it was nothing short of divine intervention. This is the bluest of blue states, and an incumbent Democrat governor should have sailed right through to victory. Christie in fact led the race for most of the past few months. Even with Obama coming multiple times to campaign for him, Corzine still lost, 48% to 44%. (Independent candidate Jim Daggett took the remainder of the vote) 

Independents made up twenty-five percent of the vote, and they favored Christie over Corzine, 60% to 30%. Members of the GOP voted solidly for Christie, 91% and 6% for Corzine. Registered Democrats were less loyal, going 88% for Corzine and 8% for Christie. Moderates for the most part were split, but still favored Christie, 48% to 45%. Conservatives, who were out in huge numbers in New Jersey, favored Christie by 88%.

The most important issues in New Jersey were the economy with 32%, Property Taxes (Highest in the nation) with 26%, corruption with 20@ and health care, 17%.  

In a brief note about the special election of New York’s 23^rd district, all conservatives and Republicans can learn an important message here:

1)      1)  Pick conservative candidates, and not traitorous RINO’s who will either NOT champion liberal causes’ or betray their party by endorsing the Democratic candidate.

2)       2)  Learn whom in the party to trust more. Sorry Newt, but Palin’s endorsement won that round. Not only did her endorsement put Hoffman in the lead for a while, she proved to be a true force to be reckoned with. Hoffman nearly won as a third party conservative candidate in a blue state. People do like Sarah, and her endorsements. 

The elections also brought other surprises. The state of Maine became the 31^st in a row to vote down Gay Marriage. Maine is no red state, and I was sure this was going to pass with popular vote. Barack Obama may have won in what was called an electoral landslide, but he did not win in an ideological one. Many people voted on their anger towards president Bush, which is just moronic. Ya know, because he wasn’t on the ticket! 

The United States is still a center-right nation. People may have voted in change last year, but it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. This is only the beginning. They woke up the sleeping giant, and the conservatives are being led to the polls once again.